Enabling relay-aided IP communications in 802.11p/WAVE Networks

Vehicular communications networks and the 802.11p/WAVE technology have become a fundamental platform for providing real-time access to safety and entertainment information in vehicular scenarios. In particular, IP-based infotainment applications are key to leverage the deployment costs of the 802.11p/WAVE network. However, the operation of IP in the standard 802.11p/WAVE and its throughput performance are still unclear, as the standard recommendations for the operation of IPv6 over WAVE are rather minimal. Consequently, this paper focuses on the provision of infrastructure-based IP communications in 802.11p/WAVE networks, and proposes the Vehicular IP in WAVE (VIP-WAVE) framework, which defines a new per-user assignment and mobility management of IPv6 addresses supported by Proxy Mobile IPv6 over WAVE, and exploits relay-aided communications to improve the network performance along roads with different levels of infrastructure presence. Extensive simulations are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework to enhance the performance of IP applications in the vehicular network.