Design Guidelines for a Network Architecture Integrating VANET with 3G & beyond Networks

Vehicle Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs), based on IEEE 802.11p, and 3G & beyond networks are characterized by their high date transmission rates and wide range communication, respectively. This paper presents an architecture that integrates between the two, making advantage of the features of each. Design guidelines pertaining to vehicle clustering and gateway management are defined. The former aims for enhancing the link stability within the VANET, whereas the latter sustains inter-connectivity of the VANET with the backhaul 3G & beyond network. Simulations are carried out using NS2 to evaluate the performance of the integrated network architecture and encouraging results are obtained in terms of high data packet delivery ratio, reduced control packet overhead, and reduced packet drop rate.