A New Two Level Cluster-Based Routing Protocol for Vehicular Ad Hoc NETwork (VANET)

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are a subset of mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). These networks do not have a specific structure, in which network-forming nodes are moving vehicles. Therefore, routing is essential for data dissemination in these networks. The problem of the link failure between vehicles is one of the principal challenges in these networks. In this paper, a reliable two-layer cluster-based algorithm has been introduced in VANETs to mitigate the link failure problem. Using two-layer routing makes route maintaining and the possibility of self-organization easier when topology does not have a steady shape. At the first level of new method, selecting the strong link and at the second level, the greedy algorithm is used in order to select the best route. Velocity, direction, ST and location are all effective parameters involved in this new algorithm. The proposed protocol that was simulated by NS-2.35 improves the network parameters such as end-to-end delay and packet delivery ratio compared with two similar measured protocols. Increased packet delivery ratio and decreased end to end delay compared with previous protocols showed better performance of the new method.