Geographical information extension for IPv6: Application to VANET

The availability of efficient location system receivers, numerous calculation techniques of the relative coordinates and the need to design an efficient and a scalable network are the main reasons for geographical information usage in vehicular networks (VANET). IPv6 is considered as the most appropriate technologies to support communication in VANET thanks to its extended address space, enhanced mobility support, ease of configuration and embedded security. Although, in the context of VANET, the knowledge of the actual geographical location becomes crucial, this information is still lacking in IPv6. Thus, the main challenge is to integrate the geographical location into the current design of IP mechanism. Few studies have dealt with geographical addressing in IPv6 for VANET. In this paper, we study and analyze some possibilities to enrich IPv6 with geographical information.