Cloud Computing on Cooperative Cars (C4S): An Architecture to Support Navigation-as-a-Service

This paper offers a cloud computing architecture supporting Navigation-as-a-Service (NAVaaS) for Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS) to ensure interoperability among C-ITS users, i.e., users of single-and multi-Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers. The proposed architecture, namely, Cloud Computing on Cooperative Cars (C4S) is a tailored design for connected vehicles using Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) or cellular connections. C4S is a scalable Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) architecture using Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) for sharing resources, platforms, software, data and communications as services. These shared infrastructure, platform, software and communications services are distributed across clusters over a network of servers and clients complementing Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs). C4S sits above the VANET layer of C-ITS to improve transportation in terms of safety, reliability, productivity and resilience, and environmental protection. To this end, C4S establishes itself over two levels of MCC: (1) DSRC-based local fogs and (2) the Internet-based remote cloud. This architecture made an array of novel cloud-based navigation services possible that supports VANETs. The mechanism, capacity and applications of NAVaaS are verified through a describing function model and a series of experimental studies.