A realistic RF jamming model for vehicular networks: Design and validation

Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) are a promising approach to increase road safety, turning VANETs into critical infrastructures in the near future. Recently, it was shown that Radio Frequency (RF) jamming has a disruptive effect in VANET communications in ranges of several hundred meters in open space areas and up to 50 m around intersections in constructed areas. Hence, it is critical to study the potential disruptive impact of RF jamming in VANET applications and to research how to detect and mitigate it to ensure security at the lower layers of the protocol stack. In this paper, we recreate outdoor measurements of VANET communications under the influence of RF jamming in NS-3 simulations in an attempt to generalize the use of previous results to study the impact of RF jamming in large-scale VANET applications. Extending a previously existing simulation model for wireless jamming, we are able to reproduce in simulations the results obtained in outdoor measurements. Thus, the simulation model that we validate in this article provides a useful tool to study the impact of RF jamming in VANET applications, as well as cooperative detection and mitigation techniques.