Power-Aware Link Quality Estimation for Vehicular Communication Networks

The use of link quality estimates has been shown to improve multi-hop packet forwarding in wireless ad-hoc networks, and in particular in Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs). The link quality estimated at a receiver strongly depends on the transmitters´ communication settings. As a result, adaptive transmission schemes such as power control can complicate the identification of reliable forwarders. In this context, this letter proposes and evaluates PoLiQ (Power-Aware Link Quality estimation), a novel technique designed to estimate the link quality in vehicular networks, taking into account the transmission parameters of each vehicle. This study shows that PoLiQ helps selecting reliable forwarders, and improves the performance of multi-hop vehicular communications.