CADD: connectivity-aware data dissemination using node forwarding capability estimation in partially connected VANETs

The recent development of the vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) has motivated an increasing interest in vehicular services and applications, such as active safety service and the infotainment service. Effective data Dissemination has become more and more important in vehicular services sharing. In this paper, the connectivity characteristics of VANETs are theoretically analyzed and implemented to show the partial connections in vehicle to vehicle communication. Hence, we propose the connectivity-aware data dissemination (CADD) in partially connected VANETs will improve the data transmission capacity. In the CADD protocol, a new metric of the node forwarding capability estimation is introduced. The metric is designed by the combination the throughput function and the active connection time estimation. And then, the high efficiency data dissemination protocol is designed by the new metric. Simulation results show that the CADD protocol outperforms existing solutions in terms of the packet delivery ratio, the transmission delay, and the protocol overhead under the condition of the intermittent network connectivity.