Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

DOI 10.1007/s11276-015-1026-9

CADMA: collision-avoidance directional medium access

for vehicular ad hoc networks
Soonbae Ji1 Junghyun Kim1 Cheolwoo You1

Published online: 1 August 2015

 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Abstract Quick and accurate message transmission is an

important research topic for vehicular ad hoc networks
(VANET). Most studies assume that the periodic broadcast
of beacon frames between vehicles increases the safety of
the driver. In particular, there has been a lot of research
into broadcasting based on carrier sense multiple access
with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) algorithms for
medium access. However, the CSMA/CA algorithm is not
an optimum technique for the VANET system, due to the
transfer delay that occurs in inducing frequent collisions on
transmission signals. In this paper, we propose a collisionavoidance directional medium access (CADMA) protocol
and infrastructure-utilized clustering method for VANET
to support reliable data transfer. In the proposed scheme,
the CADMA protocol uses non-competitive transmission
methods and cluster heads (CHs) to manage access by
allocating the nodes resources. In addition, the roadside
unit (RSU) helps with the clustering process. The simulation results indicate that the CADMA can reduce transmission delays and the collision rate of the broadcasting
signal, and have shown that the CADMA can be effectively
utilized for the VANET systems.
Keywords VANET  Directional antenna  Polling-based
MAC  Directional MAC  Clustering  V2V  DSRC

& Cheolwoo You

cwyou@mju.ac.kr
1

Department of Information and Communications

Engineering, Myongji University,
Gyeonggi-do, Yongin 449-728, South Korea

1 Introduction
The inter-vehicle communication (IVC) system refers to
the wireless communication system used to send and
receive data between vehicles that are stopped or moving
on the road [13]. The IVC is an important technology for
intelligent transport systems (ITS). In the ITS, the IVC
system operates on both infotainment and commercial
applications. In addition, it is possible to perform traffic
control or safety applications which protect the drivers life
and help avert traffic jams. Therefore, the IVC system must
be able to exchange information quickly and accurately
about the speed, break condition, traveling position, and
operating state of the peripheral vehicle in the communication radius [4, 5].
The VANET system is comprised of two main communication modes: Vehicle -to-infrastructure (V2I) and
vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems based
on dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) technology. The VANET system can be considered a particular type of mobile ad hoc network (MANET) and
wireless sensor network (WSN) with higher mobility.
Many research studies about VANET have been discussed
about the design of the medium access control (MAC),
routing and scheduling protocols to enhance the communication efficiency, network reliability, data transmission speed, radio interference and fairness problems [6
8]. Inter alia, the directional MAC (DMAC) in the
VANET system has received much attention within the
framework of the higher antenna gain, longer transmission
range, better spatial reuse, and lower interference. However, the DMAC protocol suffers from the trouble of
hidden terminal problem as a tradeoff that arise from
deafness.

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Deafness is created when a sender repeatedly attempts

to communicate with its intended receiver, but it fails
because the receiver has its beam pointed away from the
sender; most current research in this area is devoted to
resolving the deafness problem using omni-directional
signaling. Since, the VANET system built along a highway is simplified into an one-dimensional network model,
the deafness problem does not happen in the MAC protocols with omnidirectional antennas. Furthermore, omnidirectional signaling drops the spatial reuse efficiency of
the DMAC.
In this paper, we study the problem of improving the
efficiency of wireless DMAC protocols. For simplicity, we
consider a single-hop VANET system, where all nodes can
be sensed the channel omni-directionally and communicate
with each other directionally. We propose the CADMA
protocol and the IUC method to improve the VANET
systems broadcasting efficiency. Due to the rapid environmental change of the VANET system, vehicular nodes
keep joining and leaving the cluster frequently. Thus, the
CH provides much more information to maintain its cluster. Our proposal obtains location information through
infrastructure and global positioning system (GPS) tracking. The infrastructure is placed in a fixed, well-known
position; it is able to correct the positions received from the
vehicles. Utilizing the infrastructure on the road can help
reduce the complexity of the CH-selection process and
network management overheads.
Clustering and DMAC are an effective method to
limit channel contention, increase network capacity by
spatial reuse of network resource and effectively control
the network topology. The CADMA protocols can
reduce the interference and the transmission delay time
of the message by controlling the transmission direction
of the signal by using directional antennas in accordance with the flow of the vehicle. When directional
antennas are used, interference components are reduced
compared to when omni-antennas are used, because the
transmitting/receiving end pairs communicate at different angles and distances through directional beam
forming so that the possibility of collision during
transmission is reduced.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows.
Section 2 briefly reviews the work related to the design and
modeling of MAC and clustering in VANET systems.
Section 3 defines VANETs general structure and the
assumption of node mobility. Section 4 describes our work,
the CADMA protocol and the IUC method. In Sect. 5, we
compare the system performance of the conventional systems and our proposal using the simulation and evaluate
the proposals effectiveness. Finally, we present our conclusions and consider future work.

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2 Related work
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) community has put a lot of effort into the standardization of IEEE 802.11p and dedicated short-range
communications (DSRC) [9]. IEEE 802.11p uses an
enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) based on
CSMA/CA protocol. It is based on a distributed coordination function (DCF) with four access categories (ACs) to
ensure low latency for higher priority packets. The IEEE
802.11-based MAC can use a point coordination function
(PCF) to reduce the transmission delay [10, 11]. PCF is an
optional function built on the DCF that provides contention-free transfer with the cooperation of a point coordinator (PC). The PC, which stands in the AP, polls each
station for a period called the contention free period (CFP)
so that polled stations may have contention-free access to
the channel. But, the PCF mode only acts in infrastructure
networks. There are two types of channel in DSRC: The
control channel (CCH) and the service channel (SCH).
Figure 1 describes a concept of channel intervals divided
into alternating control channel (CCH) and service channel
(SCH) intervals. The nodes switch the channel evenly.
Many problems caused by hidden node, exposed node,
and deafness in the CAMA/CA-based VANET protocols
are solvable, but some problems still remain (e.g. the
movement prediction, fairness, high collision probability,
and low throughput). The MAC protocols are an important
function for controlling channel access in the wireless
network systems. Many MAC protocols for wireless networks have been shown in the literatures. In [12], the
authors proposed the hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) for
reusing isochronous channels in multiple access telecommunication networks. They combined GA with a heuristic
algorithm to improve the channel assignment of the
pending requests of the best chromosome. Yang et al. [13]
derived tight bounds on the network utilization and frame
latency performance of fair-access MAC protocols for
linear topology. This fair-access MAC protocols ensure
that the data of all nodes are equally capable of reaching
the base station. A game theoretic approach has been
proposed to utilize partially overlapped channels in wireless mesh networks [14]. They modeled the interactions
among mesh routers as a cooperative channel assignment
game. All nodes operate using a common channel to
exchange the messages to avoid deafness problems.
The reliable R-ALOHA protocol (RR-ALOHA) was
proposed for a dynamic TDMA, which is a completely
distributed access technique capable of dynamically
establishing a reliable single-hop broadcast channel, known
as the basic channel [15]. The basic channel provides knowledge of MAC transmissions in overlapping

Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

1183

Fig. 1 Time division for

channel switching in 802.11p

segments. The information conveyed by the basic channel

resolves the hidden and exposed terminal problems and
provides a valuable basis for the efficient implementation
of a network broadcast service. However, RR- ALOHA
does not take the fairness of slot allocation and synchronization of the basic channel into account. In addition,
multichannel TDMA MAC protocol proposes transmitting
over multiple channels to increase the efficiency of
broadcasting. The number of the contending nodes, however, is limited to acquire a time slot on one frame in the
network [16]. A distributed multichannel MAC protocol to
increase the throughput of the VANET applications was
proposed in, where a limited number of nodes within the
communication range can contend for the reservation of
channel slots [17].
The cluster-based multi-channel MAC protocol has been
proposed to improve the network performance and system
reliability. The authors in [18] proposed a clustering
scheme that the CH works as control unit providing a
TDMA schedule to cluster members (CMs). In [19], the
authors proposed a cluster-based multi-channel MAC
protocol. They assumed that all nodes possess two types of
transceivers, which simultaneously operate on different
channels. Inside the cluster, the CH organizes the channel
access among member nodes using TDMA, which uses one
of its transceivers with a different CDMA code. Another
transceiver is used to communicate with neighboring CHs
using the IEEE 802.11-based DCF at a different channel.
This system has a very high cost and needs very strict
synchronization between all nodes. A mobility-based
clustering scheme was also proposed in [20]. The CH
selection criterion based on the Doppler shifts arising from
the received hello packets.
On the other hand, directional MAC (DMAC) protocols
were proposed to increase the transmission coverage and
special reuse, therefore leading to greater channel capacity.
In the context of DMAC, some unprecedented beam-forming
related challenges have been identified. These include
deafness and directional hidden terminal problems [2128].
In these protocols, deafness is solved by sending the requestto-send (RTS) message and/or the clear-to-send (CTS)
message. In [21], the authors proposed a DMAC in which
RTS is sent directionally (DRTS) if one of its beams is
blocked to avoid unnecessary waiting time. In [25], the

authors considered the case where the location information

may not be available and proposed to send both RTS and
CTS omni-directionally. Another solution for eliminating
deafness problems is to use a separate channel for control
packets or use a busy tone signal, or a combination of both
[26] and [27].

3 System model and assumptions

In the VANET systems, particularly in a V2V environment,
the message associated with the operation state of the
vehicle is repeatedly generated with a certain cycle period.
This operating message must be broadcast to neighboring
nodes for safety when driving. Whenever messages are
transmitted using the competitive mode, transmission delay
accumulates continuously. It is necessary to use a noncompetitive method for VANET. Moreover, periodic node
selection for broadcasting increases the systems computational complexities of selecting the transmitting node and
control overheads. Assumptions about the propagation of
the signal, as they are related to signal transmission when
modelling the VANET system of the V2I and V2V environment, are as follows:

All nodes have the same maximum transmission range.

All nodes generate the broadcasting message; the
occurrence of the broadcasting message is assumed to
be a uniform distribution.
All nodes can acquire information regarding the node
present within a range in the forward direction through
the RSU.
Each node knows its location by using GPS.

The vehicle movement is expressed in relation to the three

major items: The density, velocity, and the follows. The
density of a node is the number of vehicles present in the
unit area, the velocity is the moving distance per unit of
time, and the follows is the number of vehicles passing
through a unit area per unit time. The relationship between
the density and velocity of the vehicles is important for the
VANET study. In this paper, the assumptions about the
movement of the vehicle are as follows:

The upper and lower bounds of the node speed exist in

the road where there is a speed limit.

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All nodes move while maintaining a safe distance. The

safe distance between vehicles is set in proportion to
the limited speed.
We consider a highway model as a road with eight
lanes, with half of the lanes assigned to the forward
direction and the other half assigned to the opposite
direction.

In this paper, we assume that K vehicles are present in a

particular area on the road. The RSUs are evenly located on
the road. And all nodes know the location of the RSUs. If
we set the network model in a hybrid VANET using these
assumptions, and it is expressed as NSet . The element is the
same as the following equation:
NSet fNM ; RI ; e; Trg

where NM is a set of all moving nodes in a particular area

on the road, RI is a set of RSUs, e is an estimated error of
received signal strength indication (RSSI), and Tr is a
signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) threshold.
The change of the moving speed should be limited to
80,110 % of the speed limit on the road. For example, the
velocity should be distributed 80,110 km/h in places where
the road has a speed limit of 100 km/h. If moving speed of
the vehicle is lower than 80 km/h, the node accelerates. If
the moving speed of the vehicle is more than 110 km/h, the
node decelerates. The minimum safe distance is set in
proportion to the nodes moving speed. When the speed
limit of the road is S m/s, we assume without loss of
generality that the minimum safe distance is 2S m. If the
distance between any two nodes gets closer to 2S m, the
speed of the rear node should be reduced. For example, if
the moving speed of a node is 100 km/h, the minimum safe
distance is an approximately 55.6 m.
At the highway, nodes exhibit some degree of regularity
in the mobility pattern of the defined path, which is the
road. Knowing the geometry of the road, nodes can predict
movement patterns at specific time intervals. For example,
a node traveling on a road is likely to maintain its heading
and speed for some period before it changes. In such an
environment, nodes are naturally clustered. Clustering is a
feature of the VANET, and there are several possible
advantages of clustering. The lowest ID clustering [29] and
the highest connectivity clustering [30] are representative
methods for single-hop clustering.
Figure 2 shows the VANET model considered in this
paper. In Fig. 2, the distance between the RSUs is fixed at
D. Moreover, the CH is located at the rear of the cluster,
and all nodes use a directional antenna. If nodes come
within the coverage of the RSU, the present condition of
the nodes is reported to the RSU. Based on this report, the
RSU gives the initial value, IV and Cluster  ID temporarily to each node. The default IV value granted by the

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RSU serves to reduce the complexity of the clustering

process, and the Cluster  ID is an address to indicate the
cluster on the VANET.
In this paper, we assume that ad hoc mode has a clusterbased network structure; the CMs and CH must always
connect on the link. Here, the meaning of the connection
refers to the state of a connection on guaranteeing the
quality of service (QoS) (e.g. BER, FER, etc.) for any link.
We assume that SETCM is a set of all cluster members. It
can be expressed as follows:
SETCM fCM1 ; CM2 ;    ; CMn1 ; CMn g;8 CMi 2 R2
2
where, CMi is a position of the CM(i) on the road and R2 is
a two-dimensional Euclidean space.
We consider a wireless network consisting of hybridmode VANET. We can divide Eq. 1 into two parts, ad hoc
and infrastructure mode. The ad hoc mode can be expressed in the connection between the CH and CM. Furthermore, the infrastructure mode can be expressed in the
connection between RSU and the nodes.
SETAD fSETCM ; e; Trg

SETIN fSETCM ; RI ; e; Trg

where, CH is a cluster head, SETAD is an ad-hoc mode, and

SETIN is an infrastructure mode.
The CH allocates resources based on the QoS threshold. To
satisfy this, we apply a SINR model within each cluster, and
we set the SINR model on an ad hoc basis. The infrastructure
mode can be solved in a simplified ad hoc mode assuming that
mobile nodes already know the position of the RSU. The
SINR model of clusters can be expressed as follows:
SINRCMi ;CH ;Ii CH

SqCMi ; CH lCMi ; CH
W Ii CH

where, S is a received signal power, qCMi ; CH is a

channel fading, lCMi ; CH is a path loss between any
CM(i) and CH, W is a Gaussian distributed noise, and
Ii CH is an interference from un-demanded sender at the
CH. In Eq. (5), we set the lCi ; CH as follows:
lCMi ; CH rCMi ; CH a

where, rCMi ; CH is an Euclidean distance between any

CM(i) and CH and a is a path-loss exponent, a [ 2. In
addition, we set the Ii CH as follows:
X
Ii CH
Sj lCMj ; CH
7
j6i

where, Sj is a received signal power from un-demanded

sender
It is possible to generate a local connectivity function
(LCF) based on Eqs. 5, 6, and 7. The LCF is in accordance

Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

1185

Fig. 2 Cluster based VANET

system model

with the SINR between the CM and CH, and shows each
clusters link state condition and helps assist header (AH)
operation. The LCF can be expressed as follows:
PrCH ! 
CMi j Ii CH
1 if SINRCMi ; CH ; Ii CH = Tr

0
otherwise

4 Clustering process and efficient directional

medium access protocol
In this section, we describe our proposed clustering scheme
and MAC protocol for VANET, and in Sect. 4.1, we
introduce a cluster formation algorithm and describe a
cluster-head election process. This scheme aims to reduce
the CHs overheads. We can take advantage of recognizing
the exact position of vehicles on the road by implementing
an infrastructure and then broadcasting this knowledge to
other nearby vehicles to determine the optimal CH. In Sect.
4.2, we introduce the CADMA to solve network scalability
and hidden terminal problems. The CADMA is a clusterand polling-based technique. In polling-based MAC protocols, a control node polls a number of nodes according to
a prearranged schedule. The CADMA protocols are
appealing due to its dynamic operation. In the CADMA, all
vehicular nodes use IV to access the channels, and the RSU
assigns IV to all vehicular nodes in the road. Then, the RSU
will send a table of the assigned IVs to a candidate cluster
head.
4.1 Cluster formation and cluster-head election
A GPS is mounted in each vehicle. The node uses the GPS
information to determine the clustering. Our proposal can
obtain location information through the GPS. The RSUs is
placed in a road, always fixed at the same position, and it is
able to correct the positions information received from

vehicles by calculating the difference between survey and

GPS data. However, there is a restrictions that the RSUs
are consistently located in a road. On the application side
of things, the RSU aims to design, develop, and evaluate
novel assistance systems, knowledge, information technology, and solutions for efficient traffic management.
From a technological standpoint, it aims to enable V2V and
V2I communication to enable novel cooperative applications, and it is expected that RSU use will continue to
expand. In the proposal, RSU defines the size of the cluster
for clustering. The cluster size is set to the maximum
distance between two nodes that makes it possible to
communicate. In general, this means the CH coverage.
Each node comes close RSUs coverage to report their
information to the RSU. The reported information from
node I to RSU is as follows:
Ri fIDi; Pi; MA i; Vi; Ai; tig

where, ID(i) is a node ID, P(i) is a GPS position information,

MA i is a moving angle of node i, V(i) is a velocity, A(i) is an
acceleration, and t(i) is an instant time stamp.
Based on the available information, R(i) and received
signal from a node i, RSU can generate information vector,
IV i. An information vector can be expressed as follows:
IV i \IDi; Di; DPi; AoAi; DVi; Dti [
10
where, ID(i) is a node ID, D(i) is a distance between RSU
and node I, DPi is expected position of node I computed
from R(i), AoA(i) is an angle of arrival (AoA), DVi is
expected velocity after unit time DT, and Dti is the time
the node I takes to complete unit distance of the road.
From IV i, RSU can compute expected space mean
speed (ESMS). The ESMS is defined as the expected mean
speeds of passing a spot point during a period of time. It
equals the average speeds over a length of road and is
derived as below. Consider unit length of a road, and let

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DVi is the instant expected speed. If there are n such

nodes, then the average travel time DtAv is given by,
P
Dti 1 X 1
11

DTAv
n
DVi
n
Therefore, from the above equation, RSU can compute
the ESMS, DVAv .
n
12
DVAv P 1
DVi

The relation between speed limit and jam density of the

road, RSU can compute expected density, DUED . The
DUED is given by,


DVAv
DUED Ujam 1 
13
VLimit
where, Ujam is a jam density, and VLimit is a speed limit of
the road.
The relation between DVAv and DUED , RSU can adjust
the unit distance by making a bound of the DUED . RSU can
make sub_group uniformly and generate the IV. As shown
in Fig. 3, the RSU puts sufficient differences in the IV so
that adjacent clusters do not overlap each other. For
example, in Fig. 3, the RSU assigned the IV of the i for
cluster N. If the minimum IV of a cluster N is k, then the
maximum IV is k i  1. If an adjacent cluster N 1 is
assigned an IV of the total j from the RSU, then the minimum IV is k i, and the maximum IV is k i j  1. In
the VANET, there is a node moved from the adjacent
cluster. These nodes can create a fatal problem in the
process of the CH election. Furthermore, it increases the
complexity of mobility management. Therefore, RSU has
to assign different IVs between adjacent clusters. CM uses
the IV to elect the CH and determine the transmission power.

Fig. 3 Infrastructure-utilized
clustering mechanism for
VANET

123

As shown in Fig. 3, the CH is located at the rear of the

cluster, unlike in conventional approaches, and because the
node uses directional antenna, the CH is located at the rear.
These settings can reduce the network complexity if the
CH is located in the center. A directional antenna is used
because its efficiency is higher than an omni-directional
antenna in terms of connectivity and interference. In a
typical ad hoc system, the use of an omni-antenna is more
efficient than the use of a directional antenna for network
management, such as with a hidden station problem or an
exposed station problem.
However, the CH is located at the center of the cluster
using an omni-antenna. In this case, the management of the
node, whether leaving or joining, is complicated. For
example, the CH must manage simultaneous back and forth
cluster movement. However, our proposal may reduce the
complexity of the existing systems by managing only one
direction, by locating the CH at the rear.
When a cluster exceeds the coverage of the RSU, CH
election is carried out by the prescribed procedures. The
CH election and clustering progress in the CCH interval.
The CH election is achieved communication between the
maximum IV and the minimum IV sub_group. A candidate
CH transmits a CH election start (CHE) signal. A CHEstart
and CHE signal is given as,
CHEstart fIDi; Pi; Pwi; Vi; Ai; Poll IDg

14

where, Pw(i) is a transmit power indicator, and Poll_ID is a

polling schedule given by RSU.
After CHEstart signaling, each node in the maximum IV
sub_group transmits a CHE signal followed from polling
schedule. A CHE signal is consisted of excepting Poll_ID
field of a CHEstart . Nodes in the minimum IV sub_group
have to make the weights vector, W(i) and has to report

Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

after CH election procedure. An W\EmphasisType

}Italic} [ is as follows:


Wi E Pt i  Pmeasured i
15


where, E Pt i is an expected free-space path loss (FSPS)
value, and Pmeasured i is a measured power from node is
CHE.
After all CHE signaling, a candidate CH selects a CH. A
CH selecting process is as follows:

X

n
CHE Max min
Wi ; 8Wi\q
16
where, q is an allowed maximum transmit power in system.
The CH is located at the rear of the cluster by electing the
header in a node that has a maximum IV, and through the
above process, the transmission direction of the broadcasting
signal is derived to be opposite to the nodes moving direction. In the VANET, safety messages must propagate before
others. Above all, the message about safety must propagate
to opposite moving direction of the nodes. For example,
when an accident occurs, a warning message about the
accident must be sent to the rear of the accident point.
Because of the nature of the message, its efficiency is higher
than when a message is transmitted to the front.
For other types of messages, such as a message used to
notify a large number of users at the same time, the
transmission method could be multicasting or broadcasting.
For these reasons, the application of our proposal has the
transmission direction of the broadcast message opposite to
the vehicles traveling direction. This makes it possible to
obtain a beneficial effect when transmitting an emergency
message.
The node speed and density correlate with each other at
regular intervals in the VANET system. The relationship
between speed and density of the traffic is linear with a
negative slope, and as the density increases, the node speed
decreases. The speed reaches zero when the density equals
a jam in the road. However, these similarities are only a
numerical average over a long period; the speeddensity
relationship changes independently for each cluster. For
this reason, some nodes will depart from the cluster coverage, and nodes outside the cluster remain in the networkhole between clusters. Due to the network-hole problem,
we propose using the AH. The CH selects the AH for any
node with a value less than or equal to half that of the CHs
IV. In Fig. 3, the AH is selected from the node with the IV
less than or equal to K i=2 in cluster N. The AH usually
works as a gateway node to help facilitate communication.
For example, if there is no poll-response of a node with a
IV that is less than or equal to AHs, AH determines that
there is a hole in the network. At first, AH works as a onehop relay node controlled by the CH. In addition, the AH
can separate the cluster, considering the relationship

1187

between the non-response rate and the node speed, using a

cluster-separate request. The presence of the AH makes it
possible to reduce the complexity of the combination and
the separation of the cluster in the VANET. th
4.2 CADMA protocol for VANET
We propose the CADMA protocol for reliable broadcasting in
the VANET system. The node is equipped with directional
antennas, and it converts the SCH and CCH to connect both
channels. The CADMA protocol is used to improve the
transmission efficiency of the broadcasting in the CCH; under
the CSMA/CA protocols, all nodes compete with each other in
the network to send messages. This competition increases the
latency and reduces the network performance. Because of this
reduction in performance, there is a requirement to use contention-free access methods; previously, we had assumed that
the CH performed similarly with a control unit. Consequently,
it is possible to use the contention-free MAC protocol in the
cluster. The SCHs medium access method uses a contentionbased conventional process.
The slot time schedule of the CADMA protocol is
shown in Fig. 4(a). The node uses a safety message interframe space (SMIFS) to send a safety application. In
addition, the SMIFS can guarantee the QoS, as the CH can
respond to the transmission of real-time traffic in the service interval. The guarantee of real-time propagation about
accident is very important in the VANET, because it is
associated with a drivers life. In the 802.11p MAC, nodes
that do not receive the CF poll (CFP) cannot send emergency messages during the CFP interval; these nodes must
compete with others to send emergency messages after the
CFP interval. The signal collides if the message transmits
during the short inter-frame space (SIFS). Thus, we propose the use of the SMIFS to solve the delay problem. We
set the SMIFS interval at twice that of the IEEE 802.11 slot
time. The CH uses a CFP inter-frame space (CFPIFS) to
send a CFP. Then, polled nodes by CFP broadcast their
information using poll-response inter-frame space (PRIFS).
In this paper, we use two types of CFP signal, the initialization CFP (I_CFP) and the normal CFP (N_CFP). The
I_CFP is used to set the automatic CFP response rotation

(a)

(b)

Fig. 4 a Slot time schedule of the CADMA protocol, b structure of

the CADMA protocol

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after CHE process. And after finishing the automatic CFP

response rotation process, a CH used to N_CFP for normal
polling. The I_CFP is as follows:
I CFP fPCH; PwCH; VCH;
PK
i1 PID minIV; i. . .
j1 PID maxIV; jg

PN

17

In Eq. 17, PID a; b represents the node b in a sub_group a,

which has a IV value a. And PID a; b is consisted two fields,
MAC address and start value, SV. A SV uses for automatic
CFP response rotation. For example, assume that the sub_group l contains N nodes from 1 to N  1, as shown in
Fig. 4(b). Which are arranged by CH in the CADMA system
as a virtual ring. In a regular polling scheme, A CH checks
with node 1 if it has packets to transmit, then checks with
node 2, and so on. However, in a CADMA, a CH checks with
each node once while the cluster is maintained. During the
I_CFP process, CH polls node (L, 1) with SV 0. If node 1 has
been succeeded packets transmitting, node 1 reduces own
SV. But, the minimum SV value is set to 0 in CADMA, node 1
has to return SV to maximum value of its own sub_group.
Then, a CH checks with node 2, and so on. After finishing the
I_CFP process, node 1 will be got a SV value 0. Additionally,
the CADMA utilizes N logical rings at the CH; N is the
number of sub_group.
A difference between I_CFP and N_CFP is a P ID
field of the CFP. The P ID field of the N_CFP is given
follows:
PIDNormal fIVmin; K. . .IVmax; Pg

18

In Eq. 18, the first field of the P IDNormal is a

IV(min, K), which is consisted two fields, IV value and any
integer. For example, any IV(c, d) in the P IDNormal
means that IV sub_group c can use d broadcasting slots
during current CFP service interval. When nodes in the
cluster listen the N_CFP signal, they check the applicable
IV(c, d) to change the state. If any sub_group n got an
available slot count p, that nodes have a SV from 0 to p  1
to change their state for transmitting. Then, remaining
nodes keep listen state and count a success broadcasting to
modify their own SV. Since, all nodes use a directional
antennas, a CH has to poll the nodes in the minimum IV
subgroup first for slot time synchronization. For example,
If the node is polled first in the minimum IV 1 sub_group, the nodes in the minimum IV subgroup are suffered
a deafness. One service interval, SI is as follows:
SI CFPIFS CFPtime

N
X

fPRIFS DATAtime ig

i1

19
where, CFPtime and DATAtime i are transmission time of
the CFP and broadcasting data, N is the number of polled
node by CFP.

123

In the CADMA, the effect of an interference from

neighboring clusters in same traffic lane is decreased by
controlling the broadcasting direction. However, an interference is still remained from the cluster at opposite traffic
lane. Assuming that the antenna is used with the same
performance, the problem of interference is easier to solve
by controlling the angle of the beam or beam width. But
such cases are rare in real systems. Therefore, it is necessary to control the polling_order to eliminate a collision by
the interference. In the CADMA, to control the polling_order is the same meaning that to control the space.
As shown in Fig. 5, the CADMA protocol uses two
polling_order types; down and up scale. When cluster A
converts channel from SCH to CCH, all nodes in the cluster
A have to sense the channel. If the cluster B is already using
the CCH, the node that has the lowest SV in the minimum
IV sub_group of the cluster A has to report the channelsensing data by using the CFPIFS. Then all nodes in the
cluster B stop the broadcasting immediately until listening
to the new CFP from CH B. If the CH A is received the
channel-sensing data, CH A has to send the re-polling
order request message to CH B by using the CFPIFS.
When the CH B is received the re-polling order request
message, CH B transmits the new CFP that contains
remaining polling_order of the CH B by using the CFPIFS.
The nodes in the cluster A can compute the polling_order
from the remaining polling_order of the CH B. Assuming
that the number of remaining IV sub_groups of the cluster
B is R, the number of transmission-available nodes in the
minimum IV sub_group of the cluster A is a R and the
number of transmission-available IV subgroup of the
cluster A is a R  1. After receiving the new CFP, the node
that has the first broadcasting_priority in the cluster B starts
the polling process.
The frame synchronization procedure is shown in Fig. 6.
After re-polling order request process, CH B sends new
CFP message. And, the node m has a SV(0) in the minimum
IV sub_group of the cluster B sensing the channel. If the
channel is an idle after PRIFS, the node m transmits the
signal. Then, the node m has a SV(1) in the minimum IV
sub_group of the cluster B sensing the channel, and so on.
In the CADMA, the last broadcasting node in the each IV
sub_group adds a IV closing tag in the broadcasting frame.
The node n has a SV(0) in the minimum IV sub_group of
the cluster A sensing the channel. When the node n detects
the IV closing tag in the frame, the node n broadcasts the
frame after the PRIFS. The remaining procedure is the
same as before. In our proposal, the maximum waiting time
for channel sensing is determined one and a half times of
the PRIFS. In Fig. 6, the node has a SV(0) in the minimum
IV 1 sub_group of the cluster B can miss the transmission timing due to the failure signal reception. The node
has a SV(1) in the minimum IV 1 sub_group sensing the

Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

1189

Fig. 5 a Initial state of down

and up scale CFP, when the
cluster A shares the CCH
interval with the opposite traffic
lanes cluster B, b structure of
the CADMA protocol

(a)

(b)

Fig. 6 Top-level frame

synchronization block diagram
of the CADMA when two
clusters share the channel

channel for two times of PRIFS. After the maximum

waiting time, it broadcasts its frame. When the channel is
shared by two clusters, service interval is as follows:
SI CFPIFS CFPtime

2N
X

fPRIFS DATAtime ig

i1

20

5 Simulation result
The value of the simulation parameters physical and MAC
layers are shown in Table 1. A simulation was performed
with the MATLAB simulator. In this simulation, an
effective coverage of the directional antenna was set to
400 m and the omni antenna was set to 300 m. The carrier
sensing range was set to 120 % of the effective signal
range. Unlike our proposal, conventional systems transmit
the signal using maximum power. In our proposal, the
signals are sent with predefined power according to the IV.

As a result, the CH can observe a RSSI value from measuring the received signal. We assume the broadcasting
system, but use the request-to- broadcasting and clear-tobroadcasting (RTB/CTB) method in the simulation. The
CH sends the CTB signal in cluster method, whereas it is
selected by any of the nodes within 300 m of the sender
node for a response in the ad-hoc mode.
If the SINR of a received signal is lower than the SINR
threshold, it is determined that a collision has occurred.
The receiver sends the NAC, and the sender node
retransfers the signal. The distance between the RSU is set
to 20 km, and the speed limit of the road is set to 80 and
100 km/h. The change position of the node is checked
every 100 ms. If a distance between the nodes is less than
safety distance, that the rear node changes the velocity
distribution function. As well, a distance between the nodes
is more than 150 % of the safety distance; the rear node
also changes the velocity distribution function. A total
length of the road is set to 20 km and devises by 400 m.

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Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

Table 1 Simulation parameters

Parameter

Value

Tx power

27 dBm

SINR threshold

0 dB

Rx/Tx switch time

5 ls

Synchronization interval

100 ms

Guard interval

4 ms

CCH/SCH interval

46 ms

Slot time

13 ls

SMIFS

26 ls

CFIFS

39 ls

PRIFS

52 ls

DIFS
Frame size

65 ls
300 byte

Data rate

6 Mbps

Polling_order per one SI

There are 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44, and 48 nodes located at the
400 m interval. At every idle state, there are five nodes
contending to send the signal.
Figure 7(a, b) show the results of identification of
changes in speed using simulations when nodes moved
20 km in accordance with the setting forth above. When
the speed limit was set to 80 and 100 km/h, average speeds
showed changes in a range of 90100 % of the speed limit,
maximum speeds show changes in a range of 105110 %
of the speed limit, and minimum speeds show changes in a
range of 8085 % of the speed limit.
The reason why the degrees of changes in speed as
above is that since the transmission radius of 802.11 p used
in VANETs is in a range of 500 m1 km. In general, the
number of cars that can come in a single hop on using an
isotropic is used is estimated to be approximately in a range
of 100200 considering the flows of cars. Whereas channel
use rates of 7080 % are shown when the number of nodes
in the network is small, it can be seen that channel use rates
rapidly decrease as the number of nodes increases. This is
because if channel requests exceeding the given bandwidth
exist, the probability of occurrence of collisions during data
transmission will increase due to random access that is a
characteristic of 802.11. Therefore, to maintain stable
networks, the experiment was conducted based on stable
high speed running modes in which the effects of networks
are reflected greatly depending on the number of cars, that
is, the number of nodes participating in the network.
5.1 Compares with non-cluster ad-hoc systems
Scenario 1 compares our proposal with conventional adhoc systems of the broadcasting performance. The conventional ad-hoc system is as follows: in the first case, the

123

(a)

(b)
Fig. 7 Speed change of vehicles. a The initial velocity is 80 km/h.
b The initial velocity is 100 km/h. The x-axis is a moving
distance(km) of vehicles

transmitter and receiver use the directional antenna for

transmitting a signal. However, the transmitter and receiver
allocate the extra control channel (xCCH) to prevent the
hidden station problem in the first case. In the xCCH, the
transmitter and receiver send the busy tone by using omniantennas. In addition, the transmitter and receiver do not
change the channel. They simultaneously send the busy
tone on to the CCH, and the broadcasting signal on to the
SCH. In the second case, the transmitter and receiver use
the omni-antenna for transmitting a signal. In the third
case, the transmitter uses an omni-antenna and receiver
uses the directional antenna. The transmitter sends a omniRTB (ORTB) and receiver sends the directional CTB
(DCTB) for response of the ORTB. The final case is an
opposite case of the third conventional system. the transmitter sends an directional RTB (DRTB) and receiver
sends an omni-CTB (OCTB). In the conventional system,

Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

the direction of the broadcasting signal is configured in

direct opposition to the vehicles if the transmitter uses the
directional antenna.
Figure 8(a, b) show the results of comparison between
the proposal and a non-cluster based ad-hoc mode VANET
system about the collisions ratio of the broadcasting signal.
In Fig. 8, the conventional method of Tx & Rx - DA w/ sub
channel was referred to [26], Tx - DA & Rx - OA was
referring to [21], and Tx - OA & Rx - DA was set referring
to [28]. In Fig. 8, the non-line of site (NLOS) value is a
path loss value when nodes in NLOS environments are
assumed to exist among nodes that are moving on the road.
Among the results, NLOS = 0 is a result obtained when
the path loss value in equation 5 was set to 2.5 assuming
that no node was in NLOS environment in the simulation
and NLOS=15 % is an experimental result obtained when
15 % of nodes running on the road were assumed to be in
NLOS environments. The 15 % of the nodes in NLOS
environments were randomly selected when each signal
was transmitted. When a node in an NLOS environment
was selected, the path loss value of the signal was set to
3.5.
As can be seen in the above results, collision rate values
remarkably increased when directional antennas were used
in systems in which clustering methods are not used
compared when the omni antennas were used. Factors that
make this difference in performance appear are node
deafness problems such as hidden station problems or
exposed station problems. As can be seen from the above
results, if separate sub channels are set to solve the node
deafness problems that may occur in VANET environments, the probability of transmission success will become
higher when directional antennas than when omni antennas
are used. This means that when directional antennas are
used, interference components are reduced compared to
when omni antennas are used because transmitting/receiving end pairs communicate at different angles and
distances through directional beam forming so that the
possibility of collisions during transmission is reduced.
When directional antennas were used without solving
the node deafness problems unlike the foregoing case,
much poorer performance was shown than the performance
obtained using omni antennas because the efficiency of use
of spaces that can be obtained by appropriately adjusting
the directions of transmitting/receiving end pairs using
directional antennas cannot be achieved in this case. From
the simulation results, when the number of nodes that use
directional antennas without constructing, the probability
of failure in transmission greatly increased. Eventually, in
VANET environments, nodes movement directions
become invariable due to the topographic factor termed
roads and the directions of signal transmission cannot but
be quite limited accordingly. For this reason, in VANET

1191

environments, the efficiency of reuse of spaces cannot be

obtained unless the beam angles of antennas are made very
sharp. Therefore, the effects of performance deterioration
due to signal collisions appear greatly.
The Fig. 8(c, d) show the rates of success in transmission of packets. The rate of success is the ratio that the
entire number of trial of transmission for the entire packets
less the number of packets which have been omitted sue to
collisions and packets remaining in the queue because they
lost competition up to five times to the entire number of
times of trial of transmission. According to this result, the
effect of node density was larger than the effect of cars
movement speed. In 802.11, nodes judge whether channels
are used before actually transmitting data. If any collision
occurs, back off will be set to retransmit the data. If node
density increases, this retransmission time will rapidly
increase to bring about differences in performance.
The Fig. 8(e, f) show the results of simulations regarding one-hop delays. If the cluster based technique proposed
in this paper is applied, interference between clusters will
be reduced using directional antennas and effective power
control unlike previously proposed techniques thereby
showing strength for systems in which network topology
frequently changes as with VANETs. As can be seen from
the above results, transmission delays in the proposed
technique maintained much smaller values compared to
existing systems even when the number of cars driven on
the road increased. Existing methods using omni antennas
show similar increase rates to the method proposed in this
study.
On the other hand, existing methods using directional
antennas show rapidly increasing transmission delays in
proportion to the number of cars. Eventually, increased
missed sensing rates lead to increased collision rates, which
appear as transmission delays. Since most equipment units
for road safety applications have delay times, urgent
messages should be transmitted immediately or with minimum delay times. In general, resource reservation by
competition supports QoS in terms real time information
packet throughput such as rich infotainment services.
However, as can be seen from the results of simulations,
this method may be more inefficient for road safety
applications.
5.2 Compares with cluster-based ad-hoc systems
Scenario 2 is similar to Scenario 1. The conventional
system composes the cluster. Because the CH cannot
control the CM at the same time in the single-channel
systems that the CH uses are excluded from the comparison. The CH is located at the center of the cluster in the
conventional system. The transfer method is the same as
the Scenario 1. The cluster is divided into two cells based

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Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

Collision ratio, NLOS value = 15%.

Collision ratio, NLOS value = 0%.

7
6
5

15

Proposal
Tx & Rx - DA, w/ sub channel
Tx & Rx - OA
Tx - OA, Rx - DA
Tx - DA, Rx - OA
100km/h
80km/h

Incidence of collision (%)

Incidence of collision (%)

4
3
2

10

Proposal
Tx & Rx - DA, w/ sub channel
Tx & Rx - OA
Tx - OA, Rx - DA
Tx - DA, Rx - OA
100km/h
80km/h

1
0
3

3.5

4.5

5.5

0
3

3.5

(a)

Packet delivery ratio (%)

Packet delivery ratio (%)

90

85
Proposal
Tx & Rx - DA, w/ sub channel
Tx & Rx - OA
Tx - OA, Rx - DA
Tx - DA, Rx - OA
100km/h
80km/h

3.5

4.5

5.5

35
30

80
75
70

Proposal
Tx & Rx - DA, w/ sub channel
Tx & Rx - OA
Tx - OA, Rx - DA
Tx - DA, Rx - OA
100km/h
80km/h

3.5

4.5

Transmission delay, NLOS value = 15%.

80

Proposal
Tx & Rx - DA, w/ sub channel
Tx & Rx - OA
Tx - OA, Rx - DA
Tx - DA, Rx - OA
CCI (46ms)
100km/h
80km/h

70

25
20
15
10

60
50

Proposal
Tx & Rx - DA, w/ sub channel
Tx & Rx - OA
Tx - OA, Rx - DA
Tx - DA, Rx - OA
CCI (46ms)
100km/h
80km/h

40
30
20
10

5
0
3

85

(d)

Average latency (msec)

Average latency (msec)

40

5.5

90

65
3

Transmission delay, NLOS value = 0%.

45

95

(c)
50

5.5

100

95

75
3

PDR, NLOS value = 15%.

PDR, NLOS value = 0%.

100

80

4.5

(b)

3.5

4.5

5.5

(e)

0
3

3.5

4.5

5.5

(f)

Fig. 8 Simulation result of comparing with non-cluster ad-hoc

systems. a Collision ratio of the Broadcasting signal. The NLOS
value = 0 %. b The NLOS value = 15 %. c Packet delivery ratio of
the Broadcasting signal. The NLOS value = 0 %. d The NLOS value
= 15 %. e Transmission delay of the Broadcasting signal. The NLOS

value = 0 %. f The NLOS value = 15 %. The x-axis is the number of

vehicle nodes per lane at 400 m interval. The solid line is the result of
the initial velocity is 100 km/h. The dotted line is the result of the
initial velocity is 80 km/h

on the CH, forward and backward. The two cells do not

participate in the transmitting contention at the same time.
Figure 9(a, b) show the results of comparison between
the proposal and a cluster based ad-hoc mode VANET
system about the collisions ratio of the broadcasting signal.
The cluster- based conventional system is divided into two
cells based on the CH, forward and backward. The two
cells do not participate in the transmitting contention at the
same time, because the CH cannot control the CM at the
same time in the single-channel systems. The collisions
ratio of the conventional system is improved than non-

cluster based system, but still remains the hidden station

problems or exposed station problems.
Figure 9(c, d) show the results of comparison between
the proposal and a cluster based ad-hoc mode VANET
system about rates of success in transmission of packets. If
the proposed TDMA based MAC protocol is used, the
probability of forwarding in packet transmission can be
enhanced when the number of nodes are increased on the
network. Therefore, the packet transmission ratio of the
proposed algorithm can be identified to be higher than that
of existing algorithms. In addition, it can be seen that the

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Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

1193

Collision ratio, NLOS value = 0%.

5
4

Collision ratio, NLOS value = 15%.

8

Proposal
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA
100km/h
80km/h

Incidence of collision (%)

Incidence of collision (%)

3
2
1
0
3

7
6

Proposal
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA
100km/h
80km/h

5
4
3
2
1

3.5

4.5

5.5

0
3

3.5

(a)

95

95

90
85
80

70
65
3

Proposal
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA
100km/h
80km/h

3.5

4.5

5.5

75
70

60
3

Proposal
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA
100km/h
80km/h

3.5

4.5

(d)
Transmission delay, NLOS value = 15%.
40

Proposal
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA
100km/h
80km/h

35

25
20
15
10
5
0
3

5.5

80

65

Average latency (msec)

Average latency (msec)

30

85

Transmission delay, NLOS value = 0%.

35

5.5

90

(c)
40

PDR, NLOS value = 15%.

100

Packet delivery ratio (%)

Packet delivery ratio (%)

PDR, NLOS value = 0%.

100

75

4.5

(b)

30

Proposal
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA
100km/h
80km/h

25
20
15
10
5

3.5

4.5

5.5

(e)

0
3

3.5

4.5

5.5

(f)

Fig. 9 Simulation result of comparing with cluster-based ad-hoc

systems. a Collision ratio of the Broadcasting signal. The NLOS
value = 0 %. b The NLOS value = 15 %. c Packet delivery ratio of
the Broadcasting signal. The NLOS value = 0 %. d The NLOS value
= 15 %. e Transmission delay of the Broadcasting signal. The NLOS

value = 0 %. f The NLOS value = 15 %. The x-axis is the number of

vehicle nodes per lane at 400 m interval. The solid line is the result of
the initial velocity is 100 km/h. The dotted line is the result of the
initial velocity is 80 km/h

packet transmission ratio of the proposed protocol shows

less variations than that of existing protocols when the
number of nodes. It also can be identified that the packet
transmission ratio of the proposed protocol is higher than
that of existing protocols by 13 % at the minimum and
26 % at the maximum when the number of nodes per the
unit distance is six in the Fig. 9.
Figure 9(e, f) show the results of simulations regarding
one-hop delays. As can be seen from the above results,
transmission delays in the proposed technique maintained
much smaller values compared to existing systems even

when the number of cars driven on the road increased.

Existing methods using omni antennas show similar
increase rates to the method proposed in this study. On the
other hand, existing methods using directional antennas
show rapidly increasing transmission delays in proportion
to the number of cars. In addition, the packet transmission
ratio of the proposed algorithm can be identified to be
higher than that of existing algorithms. In addition, it can
be seen that the packet transmission ratio of the proposed
protocol shows less variations than that of existing protocols when the number of nodes.

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1194

The CH is located at the rear of the cluster, unlike

conventional approaches. Because the CH uses the directional antenna based on single channel system, the CH is
located at the rear. These settings can reduce the complexity of the network if the CH is located in the center.
Because the CH located at the rear of the cluster, the
transmission direction of the broadcasting signal is derived
to be opposite to the moving direction of the node. In the
VANET, safety messages must propagate before others.
Above all, the message about safety must propagate
opposite to the moving direction of the node.
5.3 Compares the cluster retentiveness
and connectivity
Scenario 3 compares the performance of the method proposed in this paper and that of general cluster methods in
existing VANET systems based on node speed and density
in relation to problems in clusters retentiveness and connectivity that may be caused by the fast changes and
inequality occurring during movements at high speed that
is one of problems of VANETs. All nodes are assumed to
have the same signal sensing coverage. The RSU is
assumed to judge the sizes of clusters to select some of
nodes located at the center as with the method proposed in
this paper. The number of nodes that participate in the
process of selecting CHs is set to be the same in all system
environments. Speed changes are set so that all nodes
would be randomly changed within the limited boundary.
In this paper, assist headers were proposed to maintain the
connectivity of clusters. The proposal in this paper assumes
that a main header and an assist header exist only in one
system. only a main header exists in each remaining systems.
Figure 10(a, b) show the simulation results about the
cluster-header election time. We performed this simulation
with different path-loss values. Each conventional system
has equal cluster coverage. As we can see, the clusterheader election time is varied with different path-loss
values and node density. This is because the nodes are
randomly deployed in a certain area. Through the simulation experiments, we showed that our proposal has
improves the performance of cluster head election.
Figure 10(c, d) show the simulation results about the
reception failure ratio of the control signal at the CM. If the
CM missed the control signal during the 10 ms in CCI, we
count the nodes that just failure node in the calculation. In
conventional system, the use of an omni-antenna is more
efficient than the use of a directional antenna for network
management, such as with a hidden station problem or an
exposed station problem. However, the CH is located at the
center of the cluster using omni-antenna. In this case, the
management of the node, leaving from or joining into, is
complicated. For example, the CH must manage the

123

Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

movement back and forth of the cluster at the same time.

As we can see, reception failure ratio of the control signal
is over twice than our proposal.
Figure 10(e, f) show the simulation results about the
recovery time of the network hole. As described above, the
nodes exhibit some degree of regularity in the mobility
pattern of the defined path, which is the road. The speeddensity relationship changes independently with each
cluster. For this reason, some nodes will be departing from
the cluster coverage and that nodes, outside of the cluster,
remain in the network-hole between the clusters. This
network-hole can reduce the network performance. The
more network-hole is created, the more complexity and
overhead of the system is increased. In this paper, we
propose using the AH to solve the network-hole problem.
Through the simulation experiments, we showed that our
proposal has improves the performance of the system.

6 Conclusion
The VANET consists of mostly high mobile nodes moving
in the same or opposite directions. This high movement
results in a frequently disconnected network, since the link
between two vehicles can quickly disappear while the two
nodes are transmitting information. As a result, end-to-end
delay increases, and the packet delivery ratio reduces.
When used without the modification of the individual
techniques of the existing MANETs for VANETs, it is
difficult to achieve efficient message delivery. The VANET
needs group mobility management and radio resource
allocation due to the high movement of the vehicle.
In this study, we proposed the infrastructure-based
clustering method and efficient MAC protocol for stable
message transmission in dense VANET systems where
directional antennas are used. In addition, simulations were
implemented in a straight 20 km expressway model that
support multiple lanes considering the ad-hoc and infrastructure VANET modes. Enhancement of performance at a
certain level compared to existing systems could be identified in the problem of interference, signal collisions, and
transmission delays. These results can be utilized in thoroughly designing and verifying MAC operating methods
for efficient improvement of broadcasting performance in
dense VANET environments. The cluster-based VANETs
are suitable for use on expressways. Although groups can
be easily managed because cars that progress in the same
directions naturally form clusters and communicate with
each other, the time and costs required to form clusters act
as weaknesses and infrastructures are required in many
cases. Later, communication protocols and designs are
necessary for VANETs considering accurate mobility
models including changing system considerations such as

Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

Cluster header election time, NLOS value = 15%.

Cluster header election time, NLOS value = 0%.

9

Average time (msec)

Average time (msec)

14

Proposal
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA

8
7
6
5
4

12

Proposal
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA

10
8
6
4

3
2
3

3.5

4.5

5.5

2
3

3.5

(a)
Proposal - w/ AH
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA

4
3
2
1
0
3

3.5

4.5

5.5

7
6
5
4
3
2
3

3.5

5.5

Recovery time of the hole, NLOS value = 15%.

16

Proposal - w/ AH
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA

14

Recovery time (sec)

Recovery time (sec)

4.5

(d)

6
5
4
3

Proposal - w/ AH
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA

12
10
8
6
4

2
1
100

Recovery time of the hole, NLOS value = 0%.

5.5

Proposal - w/ AH
CH & CM - DA, w/ sub channel
CH & CM - OA
CH - OA, CM - DA

(c)
8

Failed to receive the control signalsl, NLOS value = 15%.

10

Failed to receive the control signalsl, NLOS value = 0%.

4.5

(b)

Reception failure ratio (%)

Reception failure ratio (%)

Fig. 10 Simulation result of

comparing the cluster
retentiveness and connectivity.
a, b The simulation results
about the cluster-header election
time. a The NLOS value = 0 %.
b The NLOS value = 15 %. c,
d The simulation results about
the reception failure ratio of the
control signal at the CM. c The
NLOS value = 0 %. d The
NLOS value = 15 %. e, f The
simulation results about the
recovery time of the network
hole. e The NLOS value = 0 %.
f The NLOS value = 15 %. In a,
b, c, d, the x-axis is the number
of vehicle nodes per lane at
400 m interval. In (e, f), The xaxis is the network-hole
distance between two cluster

1195

150

200

250

(e)
car speeds reflecting actual car environments and drivers
aggressiveness.
Acknowledgments This work was supported by the 2015 MPEES
Advanced Research Center Fund of Myongji University in Korea.

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Soonbae Ji received the B.S.

degree in communications
engineering and M.S. degree in
information and communications engineering from Myongji
University,
Yongin, South
Korea, in 2009 and 2011,
respectively. He is currently
pursuing the Ph.D. degree at the
same university. His research
interests include practical signal
processing algorithms for multiple input multiple output
(MIMO) wireless communications and distributed radar systems. In the area of wireless communications, he is currently focused
on cooperation in distributed wireless networks.

Wireless Netw (2016) 22:11811197

Junghyun Kim received the
B.S. and M.S. degree in information and communications
engineering from Myongji
University,
Yongin, South
Korea, in 2011 and 2013,
respectively. She is currently
pursuing the Ph.D. degree at the
same university. Her research
interests include practical signal
processing algorithms for multiple input multiple output
(MIMO), long term evolution advanced (LTE-A) and machine
to machine communications
(M2M). These days she is focused on 5G future communications in
cooperation among moving relay nodes.

1197
Cheolwoo You received the B.S.,
M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electronics Engineering from Yonsei
University, Seoul, South Korea, in
1993, 1995, and 1999, respectively. From January 1999 to April
2003, he worked as a Senior
Research Engineer with the LG
Electronics, Gyeonggi, South
Korea. From August 2004 to July
2006, he was with the Samsung
Electronics, Suwon, South Korea.
He is currently a Professor in the
dept. of information and communications engineering, Myongji
University, South Korea. He is currently interested in the 5-th generation
communication systems, communication theory, and signal processing.

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