Study of Multimedia Traffic and Loss in High-Altitude Platform-Assisted VANET

The development of Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET) is significantly hampered by the lack of analysis and modeling of multimedia traffic. Multimedia traffic engineering is required to support different applications because they have different service requirements. To achieve optimal performance, it is necessary to develop effective methods for ensuring mobility using High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPSs). Various types of air networks and HAPSs are being considered to expand VANET ground systems services. The use of HAPSs for multimedia data transmission requires reliable two-way communications. In this regard, it is necessary to explore the possibilities of combining the existing VANET ground infrastructure for effective interaction with HAPSs during heavy multimedia traffic. This article focuses on multimedia traffic modeling, traffic parameters calculation and loss estimation in VANET with HAP support. For the first time, quantitative characteristics of the multimedia traffic in the complex network “Base Station (BS) – HAP – Road Side Unit (RSU)–Vehicles” have been obtained. The original models are based on NetCracker software. The dependences of the average load of the BS-HAP channel on the Transaction Size (TS) and Bit Error Rate (BER) for a different number of vehicles are obtained. The dependences of Packet Error Rate (PER) of a roadside block on TS and the number of cars are studied. Dependences of multimedia message delivery time on RSU-Vehicle channel bandwidth, HAP delay and HAP Packet Fail Chance (PFC) are calculated. A summary of the simulation results is given in the form of a table establishing the interdependencies of parameters (TS, BER, vehicles number, link bandwidth, HAP delay, HAP PFC) and average link utilization, packet error rate, and message delivery time. The obtained data allow predicting the operation of the HAP-assisted VANET.