On the nature of Inter-Vehicle Communication

In this position paper we argue that applications for the communication between vehicles do not require the functionality typically offered by mobile ad-hoc-networks or wireless sensor networks. Consequently the name Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) is a misnomer leading practitioners and researchers astray. In order to make our point we briefly outline the characteristics of Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANETs), wireless sensor networks and classical infrastructure-based access networks. We then show that the applications considered for car-to-car communication are best served either by the latter or require altogether different network services not found in mobile ad-hoc networks or Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). We conclude our statement by pointing out some of the fundamental and unique research challenges posed by Inter-Vehicle Communication (IVC).