Analysis of Packet Forwarding in VANETs Using Probabilistic Channel Model

This paper focuses on the mathematical analysis of two forwarding schemes in Vehicle Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs): Position-Based Routing (PBR) and Contention-Based Forwarding (CBF). Although PBR and CBF have been intensively studied, most of the work was based on simulations without in-depth mathematical analysis. It is well known that the received power at a receiver in VANETs is stochastic, thus, there are no clear ranges, within which a node may correctly receive or sense a packet from a transmitter. Moreover, packet reception in the presense of an interfering node is also a stochastic process. This paper reexamines the influence of the probabilistic channel model on PBR and CBF by means of mathematical analysis. With the probabilistic channel model, the packet reception probability under interference is derived. To the best of our knowledge, there is no such reported analysis so far. Based on this, the mean forwarding and a new metrics called effective forwarding distance are analysed. Finally, numerical examples are presented to compare the forwarding distances of PBR and CBF.