A Secure Cooperative Approach for Nonline-of-Sight Location Verification in VANET

In vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), network services and applications (e.g., safety messages) require an exchange of vehicle and event location information. The data are exchanged among vehicles within each vehicle´s respective radio communication range through direct communication. In reality, direct communication is susceptible to interference and blocked by physical obstacles, which prevent the proper exchange of information about localization information. Obstacles can create a state of nonline of sight (NLOS) between two vehicles, which restricts direct communication even when corresponding vehicles exist within each other´s physical communication range, thus preventing them from exchanging proper data and affecting the localization services´ integrity and reliability. Dealing with such obstacles is a challenge in VANETs as moving obstacles such as trucks are parts of the network and have the same characteristics of a VANET node (e.g., high-speed mobility and change of driving behavior). In this paper, we present a location verification protocol among cooperative neighboring vehicles to overcome an NLOS condition and secure the integrity of localization services for VANETs. The simulation results showed improvement in neighborhood awareness under NLOS conditions. A solution such as that we propose will help to maintain localization service integrity and reliability.