Handoff management for infotainment services over vehicular networks

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) has impulsed the vehicular communications at the present time. The vehicular communications field is a hot research topic and is attracting a great interest in the automotive industry and telecommunications. There are essentially two main lines of work: (1) communication services related to road safety and traffic information; and (2) information and entertainment services, also named infotainment services. These latter services include both transmitting multimedia (voice over IP, streaming, on-line gaming, etc.) and classic data services (e-mail, access to private networks, web browsing, file sharing, etc.). In this thesis we will focus on these infotainment services because further research in this immature research field is necessary and, until nowadays, the main effort of the research community regarding vehicular communication has been focused on road safety and traffic information. Vehicular nodes need to be reached from the Internet and vice versa to be able to access to infotainment services. While vehicles move along the road infrastructure, they change their wireless point of attachment to the network. During this process, connectivity breaks down until the vehicle is connected again to a new road side unit in its area. This disconnection causes a disruption in the communications. Fast handoffs are a crucial requirement for vehicular networks to avoid long disruption times, since the high speed of vehicular nodes involves suffering a lot of handoffs during an Internet connection. This thesis is focused on Vehicular-to-Infrastructure (V2I) real-time infotainment services. The main contributions of this thesis are: i) a new testing framework for V2I communications to be able to test infotainment services in an easy way; ii) the analysis of the deployability of infotainment video services in vehicular networks using mobility protocols; and iii) the development of a new TCP architecture that will provide a better performance for all TCP-based infotainment services in a vehicular scenario with handoffs. In this thesis, firstly, we propose a new testing framework for vehicular infotainment applications. This framework is a vehicular emulation platform that allows testing real applications installed on Linux virtual machines. Using emulation, we are able to evaluate the performance of real applications with real-time requirements, so we can test multimedia applications used to offer infotainment services in vehicular scenarios in a straightforward way. Secondly, using the testing framework implemented in the first part of the thesis, we have done a performance evaluation of an infotainment service. Among these services, we think that video on demand services on highways will be interesting for users, and generate revenue to network operators. So we evaluated how network-layer handoffs can limit the deployment of a video streaming service. According to the results obtained, driving at high speeds will be an issue for a correct playback of video content, even using fast handoffs techniques. Finally, we developed a new TCP architecture to enhance performance during handoffs. Most of the non-safety services on ITS rely on the Transport Control Protocol (TCP), one of the core protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite. However there exists several issues related to TCP and mobility that can affect to TCP performance, and these issues are particularly important in vehicular networks due to its high mobility. Using new IEEE 802.21 MIH services, we propose a new TCP architecture that is able to anticipate handoffs, permitting to resume the communication after a handoff, avoiding long delays caused by TCP issues and adapting the TCP parameters to the new characteristics of the network. Using the architecture proposed, the performance of TCP is enhanced, getting a higher overall throughput and avoiding TCP fairness issues between users.Els Sistemes de Transport Intel·ligents (ITS) han impulsat les comunicacions vehiculars en l'actualitat. Les comunicacions vehiculars és un camp d'investigació de moda, i està atraient un gran interès en la indústria automobilística i de les telecomunicacions. En el camp de les comunicacions vehiculars, hi ha principalment dues línies de treball: (1) serveis de comunicacions relacionats amb la seguretat viària i la informació del trànsit; i (2) serveis d'informació i entreteniment, també anomenats serveis d'infotainment. Aquests últims inclouen tant serveis multimèdia (veu sobre IP, streaming, jocs on-line, etc.), com serveis clàssics de dades (correu electrònic, accés a xarxes privades, navegació web, compartir arxius, etc.). En aquesta tesi ens centrarem en aquests serveis d'infotainment ja que és necessari aprofundir en la investigació per aquests tipus de serveis, ja que, fins avui, els esforços de la comunitat científica en el camp de les comunicacions vehiculars s'ha centrat en els serveis relacionats amb la seguretat viària i la informació del trànsit. Els nodes vehiculars necessiten tenir connexió a Internet per a poder tenir accés als serveis d'infotainment. Mentre els vehicles estan en moviment a través de la xarxa viària, els vehicles han d'anar canviant el punt de connexió sense fils amb la xarxa. Durant aquest procés de canvi de punt de connexió, anomenat handoff, es perd la connectivitat fins que el vehicle es reconnecta a un altre punt de connexió viària prop de la seva àrea. Aquesta desconnexió causa interrupcions en les comunicacions. Uns handoffs ràpids són bàsics a les xarxes vehiculars per a evitar llargs períodes d'interrupció durant les comunicacions, ja que la gran velocitat a la que es mouen els nodes vehiculars significa un gran nombre de handoffs durant una connexió a Internet. Aquesta tesi es centra en serveis d'infotaiment en temps real per a comunicacions Vehicle-a-Infraestructura (V2I). Les principals contribucions d'aquesta tesi son: i) un nou marc de proves per a les comunicacions (V2I) per a poder provar serveis d'infotainment d'una manera fàcil; ii) l'anàlisi de la viabilitat del desplegament de serveis d'infotainment de vídeo en xarxes vehiculars utilitzant protocols de mobilitat IP; i iii) el desenvolupament d'una nova arquitectura TCP que proporciona un millor funcionament per a tots aquells serveis d'infotainment basats en el protocol TCP en un escenari vehicular amb handoffs. En aquesta tesi, primer proposem un nou marc de proves per a aplicacions vehiculars d'infotainment. Aquest marc és una plataforma d'emulació vehicular que permet provar aplicacions reals instal·lades en màquines virtuals Linux. Utilitzant l'emulació, som capaços d'avaluar el rendiment d'aplicacions reals amb característiques de temps real. D'aquesta manera es poden avaluar aplicacions multimèdia utilitzades per oferir serveis d'infotainment d'una forma senzilla en escenaris vehiculars. Segon, utilitzant el marc de prova implementat en la primera part de la tesi, hem avaluat el rendiment d'un servei d'infotainment. Entre aquest tipus de servei, creem que els serveis de vídeo sota demanda en autopistes/autovies serà interessant pels usuaris i generarà beneficis per als operadors de la xarxa. Per tant, hem avaluat com els handoffs a nivell de la capa de xarxa poden limitar el desplegament d'un servei de streaming de vídeo sota demanda. D'acord amb els resultats obtinguts, conduir a grans velocitats podria ser un problema per a poder reproduir un vídeo correctament, tot i utilitzar tècniques de handoffs ràpids. Finalment, hem desenvolupat una nova arquitectura TCP per a millorar el rendiment del protocol durant els handoffs. La majoria dels serveis d'infotainment utilitzen el Protocol de Control de Transport (TCP), un dels principals protocols de la pila de protocols d'Internet. Però existeixen forces problemes relacionats amb l'ús de TCP i la mobilitat que n'afecta el rendiment, i aquests problemes són particular

Communication continue en mode infrastructure dans les réseaux véhiculaires utilisant IEEE 802.11P

Les handovers sont des phénomènes inévitables dans les réseaux sans-fil mobiles. Lors du passage d'une station mobile d'un point d'accès à un autre, le handover affecte la qualité des transmissions, et ainsi, il est néfaste à la performance des réseaux sans-fil. De nombreuses techniques de réduction du délai lié au handover ont été proposées, mais la plupart ne sont pas adaptées aux attentes du nouveau type de réseau sans-fil mobile qu'est le réseau véhiculaire. Ce travail propose donc l'implémentation d'une méthode de réduction du délai encouru lors d'un handover dans les réseaux véhiculaires qui opèrent sous une technologie d'accès sans-fil adaptée pour les besoins des réseaux véhiculaires. Le travail est composé de deux blocs : le premier est l'implémentation d'IEEE 802.11p, qui est une variante de la norme générique d'IEEE 802.11 et qui est développée spécialement pour l'accès dans les réseaux véhiculaires, dans un simulateur de réseaux. L'autre partie concerne le choix d'une méthode de réduction du délai lié à l'étape de la recherche du handover. En tenant compte des réalités technologiques, le choix s'est porté sur une technique préconisant l'utilisation des cache pour contenir et diffuser de l'information sur les points d'accès avoisinants. La méthode proposée a été testée et a donné de très bons résultats réalistes. L'intégration des modules complémentaires pour refléter l'ensemble de la technique proposée au niveau du simulateur s'est aussi faite sans problèmes majeurs

Quality of service and security in future mobile technologies

Future networks will comprise a wide variety of wireless networks. Users will expect to be always connected from any location, and, as users move, connections will be switched to available networks using vertical handover techniques. The current approach of the operators is a centralized network, and the mobility management is done at the infrastructure level. The decentralized mobility management is another approach developed in many researches, however, not widely deployed. We are interested in this type of decentralized mobility management, especially in a highly dynamic environment when the network topology changes frequently. We choose a particular case study, Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs), which are a new emerging network technology derived from ad-hoc networks and are an example of future networks. In the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), communications without a wire between vehicles (V2V) appear as an accident prevention solution offering a wider vision than conventional sensors. By linking vehicles to telecommunications network (V2I), new perspectives are offered both passengers and driver with conventional communication applications such as access Internet, e-learning, games or chat. This means that future mobile networks like VANETs will have to integrate communications, mobility, Quality of Service (QoS) and security. We mainly interested in three issues: mobility, QoS and security. These three issues are intrinsic to vehicles on motorway networks. We need to simultaneously manage QoS and security while taking into account users mobility. In this thesis, we propose to contribute on how to improve security without degrading the quality of service QoS in a highly mobile environment as VANETs networks. To answer this research question, we use simulations and experiments. Simulation using Network Simulator 2 (NS2) will be used to show that security schemes have significant impacts on the throughput QoS, and our proposed schemes can substantially improve the effective secure throughput with cooperative communications

Propuesta de implementación de los Servicios de Información (MIIS) de 802.21 como soporte al Handover en redes vanet

AbstractVehicular networks, both schemes vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicleinfrastructure (V2I), are specially considered in different research and development processes nowadays. The SEISCIENTOS project focuses its work on studying the feasibility of these technologies in the field of vehicles, exploring new strategies for network modeling in VANETs and directing all the development to an integrated environment that provides a common interface for communication; isolating the user from transfers or changes that may occur between different network technologies. This article presents a proposal for implementation on NS2, the Media Independent Information Service (MIIS) of IEEE 802.21 [1], so that it allows to assess aspects of its impact in the test scenario defined for the development of the SEISCIENTOS project.ResumenLas redes vehiculares tanto en esquemas vehículo a vehículo (V2V) como vehículo a infraestructura (V2I) configuran actualmente un gran campo de investigacion y desarrollo. El proyecto SEISCIENTOS centra su trabajo en estudiar la viabilidad de estas tecnologías en el ámbito de los vehículos, explorar nuevas estrategias para el modelado de redes VANETs y dirigir el desarrollo hacia un entorno integrado que proporcione una interfaz común de comunicación, aislando al usuario de las transferencias que puedan producirse entre las diferentes tecnologías de red. Este artículo presenta una propuesta de implementación sobre NS2, del Media Independent Information Service (MIIS) de IEEE 802.21 [1], de tal forma que permita evaluar los aspectos relacionados con su incidencia en el escenario de prueba definido para el proyecto SEISCIENTOS

Determining the Interruption of Services While Performing V2I Communication Using the SPMD Prototype

The use of Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I), Vehicle to Roadside Unit (V2R) and Vehicle to Other (V2X) communications are increasingly applied over existing and upcoming transportation means by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and other federal agencies. From previous statistical data, these technologies would primarily avoid or mitigate vehicle crashes and would provide more safety, mobility and various other benefits on the roads (“Traffic Safety Facts 2012,” 2013; “Traffic Safety Facts 2013” 2014). During the communication processes between vehicles, infrastructures and roadside units’ various sensitive data such as positions and speed of the vehicles, are transmitted which are currently highly vulnerable. These facts are generated from this research experiment results performed on the provided data sets from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). An interference to the vehicular communications is possible by intentional or unintentional malicious users or other elements which puts drivers at greater risk with the upcoming vehicular technology. Moreover, different agencies and private companies are utilizing collected data from the USDOT to improve the operational volume of roads and services while avoiding accidents. They are also trying to provide other third-party Internet-based services to the consumers based on the live streaming information. This research paper gives a detailed description of all aspects of the vehicular communications protocol (i.e. DSRC, CA, 802.11p protocol, smart infrastructure, etc.). This research paper will provide details of all identified security features (i.e. encryption methods, certificate management, physical securities, data management lifecycles, etc.) that have been applied to these mechanisms to protect the safety of drivers (Cronin, 2013). The USDOT has currently approved the implementation of a 5.9 GHz band, along with the 802.11p standard wireless protocol for dedicated short-range communications used in vehicular communication (Shankland, 2014). This research paper will also provide details of current standards and regulations which will be in effect for the upcoming vehicular technologies in the future in the US along with the susceptibilities to the interruptions of services. Finally, this research will utilize the actual data sets compiled using the actual safety pilot model deployment (SPMD) provided by the UMRTI researchers. The analysis of these results will validate that this protocol is susceptible to interference during communications. This will be shown by plotting the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates and thus demonstrating the occurrence of gaps within communication (i.e. interference to the vehicular communication) in the existing SPMD prototype data sets

Deploying ITS Scenarios Providing Security and Mobility Services Based on IEEE 802.11p Technology

Botany & plant science

Towards video streaming in IoT environments: vehicular communication perspective

Multimedia oriented Internet of Things (IoT) enables pervasive and real-time communication of video, audio and image data among devices in an immediate surroundings. Today's vehicles have the capability of supporting real time multimedia acquisition. Vehicles with high illuminating infrared cameras and customized sensors can communicate with other on-road devices using dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) and 5G enabled communication technologies. Real time incidence of both urban and highway vehicular traffic environment can be captured and transmitted using vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication modes. Video streaming in vehicular IoT (VSV-IoT) environments is in growing stage with several challenges that need to be addressed ranging from limited resources in IoT devices, intermittent connection in vehicular networks, heterogeneous devices, dynamism and scalability in video encoding, bandwidth underutilization in video delivery, and attaining application-precise quality of service in video streaming. In this context, this paper presents a comprehensive review on video streaming in IoT environments focusing on vehicular communication perspective. Specifically, significance of video streaming in vehicular IoT environments is highlighted focusing on integration of vehicular communication with 5G enabled IoT technologies, and smart city oriented application areas for VSV-IoT. A taxonomy is presented for the classification of related literature on video streaming in vehicular network environments. Following the taxonomy, critical review of literature is performed focusing on major functional model, strengths and weaknesses. Metrics for video streaming in vehicular IoT environments are derived and comparatively analyzed in terms of their usage and evaluation capabilities. Open research challenges in VSV-IoT are identified as future directions of research in the area. The survey would benefit both IoT and vehicle industry practitioners and researchers, in terms of augmenting understanding of vehicular video streaming and its IoT related trends and issues