Performance analysis of wifi direct for vehicular communication

Abstract

Vehicular communication is the key enabler of intelligent transport services (ITS). Vehicular ad-hoc networks can be considered to be the integral component of such communication. The state of art dedicated short range communication (DSRC), which is a technology defined for vehicular communication, requires dedicated hardware. This hinders the penetration of ITS, especially in developing countries. In this thesis, we focus on analyzing the feasibility of using Wi-Fi Direct (WD), which is readily available on many smartphones, as an alternative communication technology for VANETs. We simulate VANETs using DSRC and WD with the help of network simulator NS3 and traffic simulator SUMO. We validate our model first using existing results, and perform simulations to evaluate the performance of both single and multi-hop communications. Metrics such as throughput, end-to-end delay, packet receiving/loss ratios for both WD and DSRC are considered. As expected, DSRC demonstrates a better performance with regards to most of the measured parameters. However, we observe that the performance of WD is not drastically inferior. Delays is the most crucial performance measure in a VANET. Experiments with different WD modifications show that the delays in WD based VANETs can be reduced by modifying the WD protocol. As a whole, our results indicate the potential of WD as an alternative communication technology for VANETs. Several performance gaps are identified and suggestions are provided in order to enhance WD and bridge those gaps.