Improvement in vehicular networking efficiency using a new combined WiMAX and DSRC system design

WiMAX is a competing standard for next generation wireless broadband internet access. With the latest revision of the standard, Mobile WiMAX, it is becoming ready for use in highly mobile applications, such as handheld devices and in-vehicular internet access. Research has shown, however, that WiMAX suffers overhead problems with high numbers of simultaneous active connections. This paper proposes a new combined technology system that uses the DSRC vehicle-to-vehicle links to cluster concentrate the WiMAX connections. An efficiency equation model is developed, and the simulation results show that the new proposed system improves efficiency of WiMAX by over 30%, while at the same time promoting the adoption of DSRC for safety and intelligent transportation system applications. Hence, it is shown that integrating WiMAX and DSRC would significantly save the bandwidth usage for WiMAX.