VDTNsim: a simulation tool for vehicular delay-tolerant networks

Abstract

“Copyright © [2010] IEEE. Reprinted from 15th IEEE International Workshop on Computer-Aided Modeling Analysis and Design of Communication Links and Networks.(IEEE CAMAD 2010) ISBN:978-1-4244-7634-3. This material is posted here with permission of the IEEE. Internal or personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution must be obtained from the IEEE by writing to [email protected]. By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it.”Developing an adequate network architecture for supporting data communications in vehicular networks is critical to overcome the challenges caused by highly dynamic network topology, connectivity disruption, and intermittent connectivity issues. Among several approaches available in the literature proposed to address these problems, vehicular delay-tolerant networking (VDTN) architecture appears as a recent and innovative solution that integrates the concepts of end-to-end, asynchronous, and variable-length bundle oriented communication; Internet protocol over VDTN; and out-of-band signaling. VDTN architecture, protocols and services are in a fairly early stage of development. Therefore, simulation appears as an important tool providing a highly flexible, low-cost, and fast answer for research questions, and furnishes important inputs for exploring through prototyping. This paper presents and describes the proposal and construction of a simulation tool for VDTN networks, called VDTNsim.Part of this work has been supported by Instituto de Telecomunicações, Next Generation Networks and Applications Group (NetGNA), Portugal, in the framework of the Project VDTN@Lab, and by the Euro-NF Network of Excellence of the Seventh Framework Programme of EU, in the framework of the Specific Joint Research Project VDTN