Validation of vehicular network simulation models with field-test measurements

Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE) networks operating in the Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) band have been deployed as testbeds on which trials have been conducted recently. The goal of this paper is to analyze field-test measurements from these trials, and to use the data to validate assumptions made in simulation models. First, we analyzed the field-test measurements for message success rate and characterized its dependence on distance. Next, using trial-and-error methods, we found the “best” channel model assumptions that fit this field-test data. It consists of using the Nakagami model for fast fading, free space and shadowing model for slow fading, and a shadowing correlation model for retransmissions and acknowledgments. As the field tests were conducted in a variety of environments (tall and short urban-canyon as well as open field), this best-fit model is a generic model that will account for the variability that can be expected in actual deployments as vehicles move between different environments.