Performance evaluation of IEEE 802.11p for vehicular communication networks

IEEE 802.11p is an emerging standard which provides vehicular safety communication through wireless networks. In this paper, the architecture of Wireless Access for Vehicular Environment (WAVE) and IEEE 802.11p standard were analysed. The key parameters of this standard are implemented in ns-2 network simulator to accurately simulate vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). The performance of this standard was measured in ns-2 network simulation environment using realistic vehicular mobility models. The main performance metrics for vehicular safety communication; Throughput, End-to-End delay, and Packet loss ratio are analysed in the scenario. In addition, the effect of varying vehicle speed and different message sizes on the performance metrics were measured.