The exponential increase of traffic on roads has led to numerous disastrous consequences. These issues demand an adaptive solution that ensures road safety and decreases the traffic congestion on roads. New paradigms such as Cloud computing and internet of things are aiding in achievement of the inter-communication among the vehicles on road. VANETs are designed to provide effective and efficient communication systems to develop innovative solutions but are restricted due to mobility constraints. This chapter proposes an IP-based novel framework composed of open threads integrated with VANETs exchanging information to create a mesh network among vehicles. This novel Open Threads-based infrastructure can help in achieving a more economical, efficient, safer, and sustainable world of transportation which is safer and greener. This chapter also discusses and compares various thread-enabled microcontrollers by different vendors that can be utilized to create a mesh network.
TopIntroduction
In current global scenario, traffic management demands utmost efficiency to manage the ever-expanding number of vehicles on roads along with their maneuvering. This exponential increase in population has resulted in an alarming rise in the number of on-road vehicles leading to disastrous human, environmental and economical consequences (Fussler, Schnaufer, Transier, & Effelsberg, 2007). According to (Priyanka & Dhonde, 2017), it is expected that the worldwide count of on-road vehicles, both passenger and commercial, shall cross 2 billion by 2035.This huge number of vehicles shall lead to many grave consequences like heavy trafðc congestion, air pollution, high fuel consumption and consequent economic issues, to name a few (Zeadally, Hunt, Irwin, & Hassan, 2010). This shall also result in alarming rise in the number of road accidents. According to World Health Organization (Anand, 2013), more than 1.3 million people die out of road accidents annually. Increased road congestion is also resulting in wastage of crucial human wasted by people behind the wheel.
All above issues demand a feasible, economic solution to control several transport-related problems and their consequences. The solution must enable mechanisms to improve on-road safety as well as security of both vehicles as well as passengers. One plausible solution could be to build streets and highways with much higher capacities to accommodate the increased count of vehicles and thus reduce traffic congestions. However, due to certain space limitations on the expansion of roads, this solution proves to be costly and building of new infrastructure is time taking. A better alternative would be utilization of existing infrastructures in a smart and efficient manner. This could be done by utilizing the current capacity of streets and highways optimally to reduce congestion and thus, ensure better traffic management.
In order to combat the issues and improve the efficiency, safety and security of the transportation system, intelligent mechanism need to be designed (Nellore & Hancke, 2016). Optimal traffic control and management has been the primary subject of researchers for a long time for the design, development and deployment of cost-efficient solutions (Engineering, 2015). Significant changes are expected to be seen in the transportation system in the near future. The fulfilment of the ever-increasing requirements of vehicles and passengers can be done with the help of new paradigms like Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, etc. (Rizwan, Suresh, & Rajasekhara Babu, 2017).These advancements in computing technologies have led to the innovation of devices capable of wireless communication and having processors embedded in them. The devices offer virtual intelligence via a new concept of Internet of Things (IoT)thus, ensuring a safe and manageable environment (Yu, Sun, & Cheng, 2012).
VANETs have been the prime topic of research for over a decade in both academia and industry. VANETs facilitate wireless communication between on-road vehicles and other vehicles or with other roadside infrastructures. This communication is achieved by forming a dynamic ad-hoc network in which vehicles present at the current instant on road act as nodes. On-road vehicles communicate through their On-Board Units (OBUs) to broadcast their data to all the connected vehicles’OBUs as well asto RoadSide Units (RSUs) embedded in other equipment on road (Elumalai, Murukanantham, & Technology, n.d.). The information is exchanged continuously between vehicles and fixed base stations across roads via these units. In case, a direct data exchange is not possible between an OBU and an RSU, the information is relayed to other vehicles using a multi hop transmission strategy till it reaches its destination RSU.