Vehicular Networks: A Survey on Architecture, Communication Technologies and Applications

Intelligent traffic systems (ITS), sometimes called intelligent transportation systems, apply communications and information technology to manage traffic flow, encourage drivers to use alternate forms of transport, and enable people to find the services and information which they need to drive safely, avoid traffic jams, and perform their daily routine with fewer hassles and with more peace of mind. Vehicular Ad-hoc Network which is an application of Mobile Ad-hoc Networks provides wireless Ad-hoc communication between vehicles. VANET is a mobile wireless technology which is designed to improve safety of transportation with exchanging real time data between vehicles and providing different services to the users. It has special characteristics like high mobility and provides a broad range of services to the users and it has been emerged as one of the research interests in the field of computer and telecommunication networks. In this paper we present different aspects of ITS and VANET to help the researchers to understand the architecture, communication technologies and applications of these networks.