Extending DNS to support geocasting towards VANETs: A proposal

The delivery of IP packets to a set of elements lying within a designated geographical area, also known as geocasting, is an important aspect in vehicular networks. Geocast messages can be used, for instance, to warn drivers about road conditions (e.g., weather hazards) and therefore prevent accidents. In order for geocasting to work on the Internet, IP addresses must be associated with geographical coordinates, either temporary (vehicles in transit on a road) or permanently (roadside units along the road). However, finding IP nodes within specified geographical areas is still an open issue, even though several proposals have been made. The objective of this paper is to introduce a novel proposal to extend DNS capabilities in order to support geocast.