A REAL-TIME TRAFFIC CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND PREDICTION FRAMEWORK USING VEHICLE-INFRASTRUCTURE INTEGRATION (VII) WITH COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

This research developed a real-time traffic condition assessment and prediction framework using Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration (VII) with computational intelligence to improve the existing traffic surveillance system. Due to the prohibited expenses and complexity involved for the field experiment of such a system, this study adopted state-of-the-art simulation tools as an efficient alternative. This work developed an integrated traffic and communication simulation platform to facilitate the design and evaluation of a wide range of online traffic surveillance and management system in both traffic and communication domain. Using the integrated simulator, the author evaluated the performance of different combination of communication medium and architecture. This evaluation led to the development of a hybrid VII framework exemplified by hierarchical architecture, which is expected to eliminate single point failures, enhance scalability and easy integration of control functions for traffic condition assessment and prediction. In the proposed VII framework, the vehicle on-board equipments and roadside units (RSUs) work collaboratively, based on an intelligent paradigm known as \u27Support Vector Machine (SVM),\u27 to determine the occurrence and characteristics of an incident with the kinetics data generated by vehicles. In addition to incident detection, this research also integrated the computational intelligence paradigm called \u27Support Vector Regression (SVR)\u27 within the hybrid VII framework for improving the travel time prediction capabilities, and supporting on-line leaning functions to improve its performance over time. Two simulation models that fully implemented the functionalities of real-time traffic surveillance were developed on calibrated and validated simulation network for study sites in Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina. The simulation models\u27 encouraging performance on traffic condition assessment and prediction justifies further research on field experiment of such a system to address various research issues in the areas covered by this work, such as availability and accuracy of vehicle kinetic and maneuver data, reliability of wireless communication, maintenance of RSUs and wireless repeaters. The impact of this research will provide a reliable alternative to traditional traffic sensors to assess and predict the condition of the transportation system. The integrated simulation methodology and open source software will provide a tool for design and evaluation of any real-time traffic surveillance and management systems. Additionally, the developed VII simulation models will be made available for use by future researchers and designers of other similar VII systems. Future implementation of the research in the private and public sector will result in new VII related equipment in vehicles, greater control of traffic loading, faster incident detection, improved safety, mitigated congestion, and reduced emissions and fuel consumption

Contribution to design a communication framework for vehicular ad hoc networks in urban scenarios

The constant mobility of people, the growing need to be always connected, the large number of vehicles that nowadays can be found in the roads and the advances in technology make Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) be a major area of research. Vehicular Ad hoc Networks are a special type of wireless Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs), which allow a group of mobile nodes configure a temporary network and maintain it without the need of a fixed infrastructure. A vehicular network presents some specific characteristics, as the very high speed of nodes. Due to this high speed the topology changes are frequent and the communication links may last only a few seconds. Smart cities are now a reality and have a direct relationship with vehicular networks. With the help of existing infrastructure such as traffic lights, we propose a scheme to update and analyse traffic density and a warning system to spread alert messages. With this, traffic lights assist vehicular networks to take proper decisions. This would ensure less congested streets. It would also be possible that the routing protocol forwards data packets to vehicles on streets with enough neighbours to increase the possibility of delivering the packets to destination. Sharing updated, reliable and real-time information, about traffic conditions, weather or security alerts, increases the need of algorithms for the dissemination of information that take into account the main beneffits and constraints of these networks. For all this, routing protocols for vehicular networks have the difficult task to select and establish transmission links to send the data packets from source to destination through multiple nodes using intermediate vehicles efficiently. The main objective of this thesis is to provide improvements in the communication framework for vehicular networks to improve decisions to select next hops in the moment to send information, in this way improving the exchange of information to provide suitable communication to minimize accidents, reduce congestion, optimize resources for emergencies, etc. Also, we include intelligence to vehicles at the moment to take routing decisions. Making them map-aware, being conscious of the presence of buildings and other obstacles in urban environments. Furthermore, our proposal considers the decision to store packets for a maximum time until finding other neighbouring nodes to forward the packets before discarding them. For this, we propose a protocol that considers multiple metrics that we call MMMR (A Multimetric, Map-Aware Routing Protocol ). MMMR is a protocol based on geographical knowledge of the environment and vehicle location. The metrics considered are the distance, the density of vehicles in transmission range, the available bandwidth and the future trajectory of the neighbouring nodes. This allows us to have a complete view of the vehicular scenario to anticipate the driver about possible changes that may occur. Thus, a node can select a node among all its neighbours, which is the best option to increase the likelihood of successful packet delivery, minimizing time and offering a level of quality and service. In the same way, being aware of the increase of information in wireless environments, we analyse the possibility of offering anonymity services. We include a mechanism of anonymity in routing protocols based on the Crowd algorithm, which uses the idea of hiding the original source of a packet. This allowed us to add some level of anonymity on VANET routing protocols. The analytical modeling of the available bandwidth between nodes in a VANET, the use of city infrastructure in a smart way, the forwarding selection in data routing byvehicles and the provision of anonymity in communications, are issues that have been addressed in this PhD thesis. In our research work we provide contributions to improve the communication framework for Vehicular Ad hoc Networks obtaining benefits toenhance the everyday of the population.La movilidad constante de las personas y la creciente necesidad de estar conectados en todo momento ha hecho de las redes vehiculares un área cuyo interés ha ido en aumento. La gran cantidad de vehículos que hay en la actualidad, y los avances tecnológicos han hecho de las redes vehiculares (VANETS, Vehicular Ad hoc Networks) un gran campo de investigación. Las redes vehiculares son un tipo especial de redes móviles ad hoc inalámbricas, las cuales, al igual que las redes MANET (Mobile Ad hoc Networks), permiten a un grupo de nodos móviles tanto configurar como mantener una red temporal por si mismos sin la necesidad de una infraestructura fija. Las redes vehiculares presentan algunas características muy representativas, por ejemplo, la alta velocidad que pueden alcanzar los nodos, en este caso vehículos. Debido a esta alta velocidad la topología cambia frecuentemente y la duración de los enlaces de comunicación puede ser de unos pocos segundos. Estas redes tienen una amplia área de aplicación, pudiendo tener comunicación entre los mismos nodos (V2V) o entre los vehículos y una infraestructura fija (V2I). Uno de los principales desafíos existentes en las VANET es la seguridad vial donde el gobierno y fabricantes de automóviles han centrado principalmente sus esfuerzos. Gracias a la rápida evolución de las tecnologías de comunicación inalámbrica los investigadores han logrado introducir las redes vehiculares dentro de las comunicaciones diarias permitiendo una amplia variedad de servicios para ofrecer. Las ciudades inteligentes son ahora una realidad y tienen una relación directa con las redes vehiculares. Con la ayuda de la infraestructura existente, como semáforos, se propone un sistema de análisis de densidad de tráfico y mensajes de alerta. Con esto, los semáforos ayudan a la red vehicular en la toma de decisiones. Así se logrará disponer de calles menos congestionadas para hacer una circulación más fluida (lo cual disminuye la contaminación). Además, sería posible que el protocolo de encaminamiento de datos elija vehículos en calles con suficientes vecinos para incrementar la posibilidad de entregar los paquetes al destino (minimizando pérdidas de información). El compartir información actualizada, confiable y en tiempo real sobre el estado del tráfico, clima o alertas de seguridad, aumenta la necesidad de algoritmos de difusión de la información que consideren los principales beneficios y restricciones de estas redes. Así mismo, considerar servicios críticos que necesiten un nivel de calidad y servicio es otro desafío importante. Por todo esto, un protocolo de encaminamiento para este tipo de redes tiene la difícil tarea de seleccionar y establecer enlaces de transmisión para enviar los datos desde el origen hacia el destino vía múltiples nodos utilizando vehículos intermedios de una manera eficiente. El principal objetivo de esta tesis es ofrecer mejoras en los sistemas de comunicación vehicular que mejoren la toma de decisiones en el momento de realizar el envío de la información, con lo cual se mejora el intercambio de información para poder ofrecer comunicación oportuna que minimice accidentes, reduzca atascos, optimice los recursos destinados a emergencias, etc. Así mismo, incluimos más inteligencia a los coches en el momento de tomar decisiones de encaminamiento de paquetes. Haciéndolos conscientes de la presencia de edificios y otros obstáculos en los entornos urbanos. Así como tomar la decisión de guardar paquetes durante un tiempo máximo de modo que se encuentre otros nodos vecinos para encaminar paquetes de información antes de descartarlo. Para esto, proponemos un protocolo basado en múltiples métricas (MMMR, A Multimetric, Map-aware Routing Protocol ) que es un protocolo geográfio basado en el conocimiento del entorno y localización de los vehículos. Las métricas consideradas son la distancia, la densidad de vehículos en el área de transmisión, el ancho de banda disponible y la trayectoria futura de los nodos vecinos. Esto nos permite tener una visión completa del escenario vehicular y anticiparnos a los posibles cambios que puedan suceder. Así, un nodo podrá seleccionar aquel nodo entre todos sus vecinos posibles que sea la mejor opción para incrementar la posibilidad de entrega exitosa de paquetes, minimizando tiempos y ofreciendo un cierto nivel de calidad y servicio. De la misma manera, conscientes del incremento de información que circula por medios inalámbricos, se analizó la posibilidad de servicios de anonimato. Incluimos pues un mecanismo de anonimato en protocolos de encaminamiento basado en el algoritmo Crowd, que se basa en la idea de ocultar la fuente original de un paquete. Esto nos permitió añadir cierto nivel de anonimato que pueden ofrecer los protocolos de encaminamiento. El modelado analítico del ancho de banda disponible entre nodos de una VANET, el uso de la infraestructura de la ciudad de una manera inteligente, la adecuada toma de decisiones de encaminamiento de datos por parte de los vehículos y la disposición de anonimato en las comunicaciones, son problemas que han sido abordados en este trabajo de tesis doctoral que ofrece contribuciones a la mejora de las comunicaciones en redes vehiculares en entornos urbanos aportando beneficios en el desarrollo de la vida diaria de la población

A Presence-Based Architecture for a Gateway to Integrate Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs), the IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)

Résumé Le IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) est un sujet de recherche qui attire l’attention de la communauté de recherche. Il a comme but de fournir un accès mobile aux différents services internet. Il s’agit d’une architecture de contrôle au-dessus de la couche IP dont le but est de fournir une qualité de service, services intégrés et un système de tarification équitable à travers des interfaces standards. D’autre part, le réseau Ad-hoc de véhicules (VANETs) fournit un nouveau moyen de communication sans-fil entre les véhicules circulants à grande vitesse ainsi que les équipements installés tout au long des côtés de la route. Cette technologie ouvre la porte pour développer des applications diverses comme la génie de trafic, gestion du trafic, diffusion d’information en cas d’urgence pour éviter des situations critiques, divertissement et bien d’autres choses. VANETs forme une sous-classe des réseaux Ad-hoc mobile dont la performance est fortement liée au protocole de routage utilisé dans le réseau. L’intégration des deux technologies, IMS et VANET, permettra de mettre en œuvre de nouveaux services multimédias. Ce mémoire de maîtrise propose une architecture d’une passerelle incorporant ces deux technologies ensemble. Étant donné que les deux architectures utilisent des formats de communication différents, on a conçu un middleware afin d’adapter le format en fonction de la destination et de choisir la meilleur stratégie de livraison d’information entre eux. La passerelle, qui est le cœur de notre architecture, est une couche au-dessus du IMS et le VANET. ----------ABSTRACT On one hand, IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) are a research area that has been gaining attention from the research community. It aims to provide cellular access to all Internet services. It is a control architecture on the top of the IP layer whose goal is dependent on the provision of the Quality of Service (QoS), integrated services and fair charging scheme throughout standard interfaces. On the other hand, Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) are a new communication paradigm that enables the wireless communication between vehicles moving with high speeds, as well as the vehicles and the road side equipments found along the roads. This opened the door to develop several new applications like, traffic engineering, traffic management, dissemination of emergency information to avoid critical situations, comfort and entertainment and other user applications. Moreover, VANETs are a sub-class of mobile ad-hoc networks; the performance of the communication depends on how better the routing takes place in the network. Routing of data depends on the routing protocols being used in the network. Combining the capabilities of IMS world with the VANET world opens the door to deploy a wide range of novel multimedia services. This dissertation proposes a presence-based architecture for the integration of IMS with VANETs. The presence of the middleware is used to make an instantaneous awareness of the VANETs changes as well as of the IMS format and to select the best delivery strategy between the two architectures. The gateway which is the heart of our architecture is an overlay built on the top of the IMS as well as the VANETs

Robust, Resilient and Reliable Architecture for V2X Communication

The new developments in mobile edge computing (MEC) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications has positioned 5G and beyond in a strong position to answer the market need towards future emerging intelligent transportation systems and smart city applications. The major attractive features of V2X communication is the inherent ability to adapt to any type of network, device, or data, and to ensure robustness, resilience and reliability of the network, which is challenging to realize. In this work, we propose to drive these further these features by proposing a novel robust, resilient and reliable architecture for V2X communication based on harnessing MEC and blockchain technology. A three stage computing service is proposed. Firstly, a hierarchcial computing architecture is deployed spanning over the vehicular network that constitutes cloud computing (CC), edge computing (EC), fog computing (FC) nodes. The resources and data bases can migrate from the high capacity cloud services (furthest away from the individual node of the network) to the edge (medium) and low level fog node, according to computing service requirements. Secondly, the resource allocation filters the data according to its significance, and rank the nodes according to their usability, and selects the network technology according to their physical channel characteristics. Thirdly, we propose a blockchain-based transaction service that ensures reliability. We discussed two use cases for experimental analysis, plug- in electric vehicles in smart grid scenarios, and massive IoT data services for autonomous cars. The results show that car connectivity prediction is accurate 98% of the times, where 92% more data blocks are added using micro-blockchain solution compared to the public blockchain, where it is able to reduce the time to sign and compute the proof-of-work (PoW), and deliver a low-overhead Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. This approach can be considered a strong candidate architecture for future V2X, and with more general application for everything- to-everything (X2X) communications

Cooperative control of autonomous connected vehicles from a Networked Control perspective: Theory and experimental validation

Formation control of autonomous connected vehicles is one of the typical problems addressed in the general context of networked control systems. By leveraging this paradigm, a platoon composed by multiple connected and automated vehicles is represented as one-dimensional network of dynamical agents, in which each agent only uses its neighboring information to locally control its motion, while it aims to achieve certain global coordination with all other agents. Within this theoretical framework, control algorithms are traditionally designed based on an implicit assumption of unlimited bandwidth and perfect communication environments. However, in practice, wireless communication networks, enabling the cooperative driving applications, introduce unavoidable communication impairments such as transmission delay and packet losses that strongly affect the performances of cooperative driving. Moreover, in addition to this problem, wireless communication networks can suffer different security threats. The challenge in the control field is hence to design cooperative control algorithms that are robust to communication impairments and resilient to cyber attacks. The work aim is to tackle and solve these challenges by proposing different properly designed control strategies. They are validated both in analytical, numerical and experimental ways. Obtained results confirm the effectiveness of the strategies in coping with communication impairments and security vulnerabilities