ROUTING PROTOCOLS FOR VEHICULAR AD-HOC NETWORKS: A REVIEW

Abstract

Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (or VANETs) is a revolutionary concept in the field of wireless communications where on-road vehicles communicate with each other and with road side embedded sensor equipment through their On-Board Units(OBU) with an objective to smoothen the drive experience. VANET is an inter-vehicle network where environmental and road based information is shared for wellbeing. VANETs permit the vehicles to practise route management based on traffic and weather conditions, alarm with “chance of accident” warning, help to locate a place being queried by another vehicle. However, the hurdles that challenge the successful and effective working of a VANET include the routing. Routing is full of obstacles due to rapid mobility, negligible connection duration between vehicles, potential attackers, unpredictable vehicle density in an area. Routing decision may be based on the cost effectiveness or the security or both. This paper attempts to review a few position-based, clustering-based and biology-inspired VANET routing protocols proposed in the recent time.