Reliable and efficient message dissemination by adaptive relay selection in vehicular networks

Abstract

Reliable and timely message reception of an emergency event is the prime objective of emergency message dissemination protocols in vehicular networks. Varying vehicle density and road topologies in vehicular networks raise many challenges for efficient message dissemination. This research paper proposes a new multi-hop message dissemination protocol for emergency events in vehicular networks. It employs a dynamically adaptive relay node selection process that depends on current vehicle density and transmission range. Multi-criteria-based dynamic relay node selection reduces redundant transmission and improves the delay performance of the message dissemination process. The efficient selection of relay vehicles makes the protocol scalable for different operating scenarios. We evaluated the protocol with different vehicle densities and network sizes. Simulation output confirms considerable performance improvements over existing distance-dependent protocols. In urban traffic density scenarios, over 20% improvements are achieved in delay performance to the furthest distance-based protocol with increased reliability and scalability in vehicular networks.