MAC and application-level broadcast reliability in vanets with channel fading

In this paper, a new analytic model is built to derive MAC and application-level reliability metrics of IEEE 802.11 based one-dimensional (1-D) vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) in highways, which include Packet Reception Probability, Packet Reception Ratio, T-window Reliability, and Awareness Probability. The metrics derivation starts with the evaluation of point-to-point reception probability through coverage area computation for the impact of hidden terminal problem and concurrent transmissions. The proposed approach facilitates impact analysis of distance dependent DSRC fading channel and application-level analysis. The analytical model takes IEEE 802.11 MAC, 1-D highway geometry, non-saturated message arrival interval, and Nakagami fading channel with path loss into account. The proposed model is validated/verified by extensive simulations. From the obtained numerical results under various network parameters, new important observations are given.