An adaptive and opportunistic broadcast protocol for vehicular ad hoc networks

A primary goal of broadcasting in vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is to improve the road safety by transmitting alert messages to all surrounding vehicles as soon as possible. In this paper, we adopt the concept of opportunistic routing and propose a multiple candidate relays opportunistic broadcast (MCROB) protocol for VANET. The MCROB protocol is a sender-driven broadcast scheme independent of node density. The packet delivery ratio (PDR) is derived and an expected transmission speed (ETS) for the MCROB is proposed. A priority rule for selecting a proper candidate relay and an adaptive algorithm for forwarding timers of candidate relays are also presented in this paper. Simulations show that MCROB is adaptive to the rapid changing of network conditions. It keeps a low communication overhead introduced by the broadcast and increases the average transmission speed by around 40%.