Efficient broadcasting in VANETs using dynamic backbone and network coding

Multi-hop data dissemination in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) is very important for the realization of collision avoidance systems and many other interesting applications. However, designing an efficient data dissemination protocol for VANETs has been a challenging issue due to vehicle movements, limited wireless resources and lossy characteristics of wireless communication. In this paper, we propose a protocol which can provide a lightweight and reliable solution for data dissemination in VANETs. The protocol employs dynamically generated backbone vehicles to disseminate broadcast packets to reduce MAC layer contention time at each node while maintaining a high packet dissemination ratio by taking into account vehicle movement dynamics and link quality between vehicles for the backbone selection. The protocol also uses network coding to reduce the protocol overhead and improve the packet reception probability as compared to conventional approaches. We use theoretical analysis and computer simulations to show the advantage of the proposed protocol over other existing alternatives.