Pervasive Internet Access by Vehicles through Satellite Receive-Only Terminals

Ubiquitous Internet connectivity is very important in present environment. A lot of research has been done to extend Internet connectivity to vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). The biggest challenge to achieve this goal is the requirement of pervasive fully networked roadside infrastructure. This requirement is difficult to achieve especially during the initial deployment phase of vehicular networks and also in areas with scarce roadside infrastructure (such as along highways and in rural areas). This makes solutions that are solely dependent on roadside infrastructure impracticable to be implemented. Other solutions using cellular networks or symmetric satellite communication are either expensive or do not provide sufficient bandwidth. Further satellite communication suffers heavy losses in urban area and makes its use difficult in vehicular networks. We present a solution that complements the existing ones without requiring a fully networked roadside infrastructure. The solution uses satellite receive-only terminals and very few (widely spaced) roadside units to provide pervasive Internet connectivity. The solution is cost effective, incremental and practical. It can support TCP connection even when the uplink is interrupted for long durations of time. We present several different design options with varying degrees of error handling capabilities and different overheads and delays, which can be used according to the given environment.