Studying Vehicle Movements on Highways and their Impact on Ad-Hoc Connectivity

While Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks are generally studied using a randomized node movement model such as the Random Way-Point model [8], Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks deal with street-bound vehicles following a completely different movement pattern. This results - among other things - in a completely different connectivity situation and new challenges for data dissemination or routing/forwarding algorithms. Thus, researchers need a) suitable movement patterns for simulation, and b) a solid statistical understanding of the connectivity situation independent of the protocols utilized. In this work, we present a set of movement traces derived from typical situations on German Autobahns and an elaborate statistical analysis with respect to movement and connectivity relevant parameters. In addition, we present HWGui, a visualization, transformation, and evaluation package developed to study these scenarios. Beside the analysis capabilities HWGui is able, among other things, to generate movement files suitable for simulation with ns-2 [10]

Vehicular networks on two Madrid highways

Proceeding of: 2014 Eleventh Annual IEEE International Conference on Sensing, Communication, and Networking (SECON), Singapore, 30 June - 03 July, 2014There is a growing need for vehicular mobility datasets that can be employed in the simulative evaluation of protocols and architectures designed for upcoming vehicular networks. Such datasets should be realistic, publicly available, and heterogeneous, i.e., they should capture varied traffic conditions. In this paper, we contribute to the ongoing effort to define such mobility scenarios by introducing a novel set of traces for vehicular network simulation. Our traces are derived from high-resolution real-world traffic counts, and describe the road traffic on two highways around Madrid, Spain, at several hours of different working days. We provide a thorough discussion of the real-world data underlying our study, and of the synthetic trace generation process. Finally, we assess the potential impact of our dataset on networking studies, by characterizing the connectivity of vehicular networks built on the different traces. Our results underscore the dramatic impact that relatively small communication range variations have on the network. Also, they unveil previously unknown temporal dynamics of the topology of highway vehicular networks, and identify their causes.The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement n.630211. Funding for D. Naboulsi was provided by a grant from Rhône-Alpes Region.Publicad

Mobility and connectivity in highway vehicular networks: a case study in Madrid

The performance of protocols and architectures for upcoming vehicular networks is commonly investigated by means of computer simulations, due to the excessive cost and complexity of large-scale experiments. Dependable and reproducible simulations are thus paramount to a proper evaluation of vehicular networking solutions. Yet, we lack today a reference dataset of vehicular mobility scenarios that are realistic, publicly available, heterogeneous, and that can be used for networking simulations straightaway. In this paper, we contribute to the endeavor of developing such a reference dataset, and present original synthetic traces that are generated from high-resolution real-world traffic counts. They describe road traffic in quasi-stationary state on three highways near Madrid, Spain, for different time-spans of several working days. To assess the potential impact of the traces on networking studies, we carry out a comprehensive analysis of the vehicular network topology they yield. Our results highlight the significant variability of the vehicular connectivity over time and space, and its invariant correlation with the vehicular density. We also underpin the dramatic influence of the communication range on the network fragmentation, availability, and stability, in all of the scenarios we consider.The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Unions Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement n.630211 ReFleX. This research was also funded by Spanish MICINN through the ADAS-ROAD Project (TRA2013-48314-C3-1-R). Funding for D. Naboulsi was provided by a grant from Rhône-Alpes Region. This work was carried out while Marco Gramaglia was at CNR-IEIIT.Publicad

Hierarchical wireless framework for real-time collaborative generation and distribution of telemetry data

This project introduces a novel multidisciplinary approach combining Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks and Granular Computing, to the data processing and information generation problem in large urban traffic systems. It addresses the challenge of realtime information generation and dissemination in such systems by designing and investigating a hierarchical real-time information framework. The research work is complemented by designing and developing a simulator for such a system, which provides a simulation environment for the model developed. The proposed multidisciplinary hierarchical real-time information processing and dissemination system framework utilises results from two different areas of study, which are Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETS) and Granular Computing concepts. Furthermore, a new geographically constrained VANET topology for information generation is proposed, simulated and investigated

A survey on Human Mobility and its applications

Human Mobility has attracted attentions from different fields of studies such as epidemic modeling, traffic engineering, traffic prediction and urban planning. In this survey we review major characteristics of human mobility studies including from trajectory-based studies to studies using graph and network theory. In trajectory-based studies statistical measures such as jump length distribution and radius of gyration are analyzed in order to investigate how people move in their daily life, and if it is possible to model this individual movements and make prediction based on them. Using graph in mobility studies, helps to investigate the dynamic behavior of the system, such as diffusion and flow in the network and makes it easier to estimate how much one part of the network influences another by using metrics like centrality measures. We aim to study population flow in transportation networks using mobility data to derive models and patterns, and to develop new applications in predicting phenomena such as congestion. Human Mobility studies with the new generation of mobility data provided by cellular phone networks, arise new challenges such as data storing, data representation, data analysis and computation complexity. A comparative review of different data types used in current tools and applications of Human Mobility studies leads us to new approaches for dealing with mentioned challenges

All Roads Lead to Fragmentation: Exploring Habitat Connectivity and Wildlife Underpasses through the Florida Panther and the Jaguar

The global transportation system is the “giant now embracing us,” and its omnipresent nature influences ecosystems worldwide (Forman, 1998: iv). The diversity of environmental effects associated with transportation systems challenges researchers to focus on concrete aspects of intertwined ecological systems. Examining habitat fragmentation associated with transportation networks, however, exposes some of the most direct impacts of these networks on fauna populations. As transportation networks expand, road corridors hinder habitat connectivity, which can greatly impact habitat health and genetic diversity in ecosystems (Corlatti et al., 2009; Tewksbury et al., 2002). Animal-vehicle collisions, decreased reproductive success, movement constraints, decreased colonization, and increased extinction rates associated with habitat fragmentation due to roads affects population densities, biodiversity, and ecosystem processes (Beckmann & Hilty, 2010). These factors influence direct and indirect habitat loss, which decreases habitat connectivity and isolates small populations (Beckmann & Hilty, 2010; Schwab & Zandbergen, 2011; Goosem et al., 2005). Habitat fragmentation is particularly detrimental for populations of rare, wide-ranging, and low-density species of wildlife that require large amounts of land to meet their ecological needs or for seasonal migratory movements (Beckmann & Hilty, 2010). Current research promotes habitat connectivity in landscapes fragmented by roads to minimize some of these ecological effects (Beckmann & Hilty, 2010; Goosem et al., 2005; Laurance et al., 2004; Colchero et al., 2010). Paper prepared for the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar/Geography Capstone

Unicast Ad-Hoc Routing in Vehicular City Scenarios

Within Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networking (VANET), i.e., networking between radio-equipped vehicles, unicast packet forwarding can be separated into the one-dimensional highway case and the two-dimensional city case. In this report, we survey the routing methods developed in the FleetNet and Network-on-Wheels projects plus a novel combination of two wellknown methods called PBR-DV or Position-Based Routing with Distance-Vector recovery. On the quest for a city-capable candidate routing algorithm as a possible standard, we discuss the usability and performance of the protocols in city scenarios. Finally, we conclude proposing PBR-DV as a candidate protocol for small-hop-count unicast VANET scenarios