Reducing Interferences in VANETs

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are networks that are created on the fly (ad hoc) between various mobile nodes and do not require infrastructure. The mobile nodes can move around, and the network would automatically reconfigure itself to allow connectivity. Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are a subclass of MANETs that is expected to have a key role in the intelligent transportation systems of the future. VANETs provide vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-roadside communication in order to support safety and comfort applications. Despite being a subclass of MANETs, VANETs have fundamentally different behavior. This paper presents a scheme consisting of a media access control protocol and a clustering algorithm designed to reduce interferences in VANETs. Our scheme, which is intended for safety applications in highway environments, employs dynamic multihop clustering, allows better utilization of network resources, and improves network performance.