Toward Realistic Simulation of Intervehicle Communication

The quality of intelligent transportation systems strongly depends on the underlying communication protocols and techniques. In this article, we discuss the current state of the art, trends, and open problems in the area of simulation techniques used to study intervehicle communication (IVC). Here, we touch on a broad range of topics but focus on three aspects that have a strong influence on the degree of realism and hence the reliability of simulation results: the need to integrate microscopic mobility models, the used evaluation metrics, and the impact of human driver behavior on a macroscopic scale. We study and discuss the state of the art of simulation-based performance evaluation of IVC protocols and applications. In the scope of this article, we concentrate on the most recent advances and findings by outlining selected models, techniques, and issues that are specifically related to IVC, with a strong focus on aspects beyond network simulation issues. The main objective is to determine the degree to which available simulation techniques produce realistic results.