A multi-hop moving zone (MMZ) clustering scheme based on cellular-V2X

A clustering scheme based on pure V2V communications has two prominent issues i.e. broadcast storm and network disconnection. The application of the fifth generation (5G) technology to vehicular networks is an optimal choice due to its wide coverage and low latency features. In this paper, a Multi-hop Moving Zone (MMZ) clustering scheme is proposed by combining IEEE 802.11p with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G cellular technology. In MMZ, vehicles are clustered up-to three hops using V2V communications based on IEEE 802.11p aiming to reduce excessive cellular hand-off cost. While the zonal heads (ZHs) i.e. cluster heads (CHs) are selected by cellular-V2X (C-V2X) on the basis of multi-metrics i.e. relative speed, distance and link life time (LLT). The main goal of MMZ is to form stable clusters achieving high packet delivery and low latency. The simulation results using ns3 show that, 5G wide range technology significantly improves the stability of MMZ in term of ZH duration and change rate. The average Data Packet Delivery Ratio (DPDR) and E2E latency are also improved as compared to the existing clustering schemes.