Modeling mobility for vehicular ad-hoc networks

Without realistic modeling of node mobility, simulation evaluation of performance of mobile ad hoc networks may not correlate well with performance in a real deployment. In this work, we present a new, realistic model of node motion based on the movement of vehicles on real street maps. Our model can be used with the ns-2 network simulator. We compare our model with the Random Waypoint mobility model, the most widely used mobility model. Results show that, in many ways, the Random Waypoint mobility model is a good approximation for simulating the motion of vehicles on a road, but there are situations in which our new model is better suited.