An Analysis on Contemporary MAC Layer Protocols in Vehicular Networks: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions

Lopamudra Hota, Biraja Prasad Nayak, Arun Kumar, G. G. Md. Nawaz Ali and Peter Han Joo Chong
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Lopamudra Hota: Department of Computer Science & Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 769008, India
Biraja Prasad Nayak: Department of Computer Science & Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 769008, India
Arun Kumar: Department of Computer Science & Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 769008, India
G. G. Md. Nawaz Ali: Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625, USA
Peter Han Joo Chong: School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1010, New Zealand

Future Internet, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-45

Abstract: Traffic density around the globe is increasing on a day-to-day basis, resulting in more accidents, congestion, and pollution. The dynamic vehicular environment induces challenges in designing an efficient and reliable protocol for communication. Timely delivery of safety and non-safety messages is necessary for traffic congestion control and for avoiding road mishaps. For efficient resource sharing and optimized channel utilization, the media access control (MAC) protocol plays a vital role. An efficient MAC protocol design can provide fair channel access and can delay constraint safety message dissemination, improving road safety. This paper reviews the applications, characteristics, and challenges faced in the design of MAC protocols. A classification of the MAC protocol is presented based on contention mechanisms and channel access. The classification based on contention is oriented as contention-based, contention-free, and hybrid, whereas the classification based on channel access is categorized as distributed, centralized, cluster-based, cooperative, token-based, and random access. These are further sub-classified as single-channel and multi-channel, based on the type of channel resources they utilize. This paper gives an analysis of the objectives, mechanisms, advantages/disadvantages, and simulators used in specified protocols. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion on the future scope and open challenges for improving the MAC protocol design.

Keywords: MAC classification; vehicular networks; VANETs; distributed MAC; centralized MAC; multi-channel MAC; single-channel MAC; spectrum allocation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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