A Usage Oriented Analysis of Vehicular Networks: from Technologies to Applications

The research world is paying a lot of attention on vehicular networks nowadays. Novel vehicular services need a suitable communication channel in order to extend in-car capabilities and, generally, be aware about surrounding events. Such networks, however, present some special features, such as high mobility or specific topologies. These properties affect the performance of applications, and more effort should be directed to identify the necessities of the network. Few works deal with application requirements which should be considered when the vehicular network is designed. In this paper, we fill the gap, and propose an analysis of application requirements considering available technologies for the lower and network layer. This study contains key factors which must be taken into account not only at the designing stage of the vehicular services, but also when applications are evaluated.