Cluster-based RSU deployment strategy for vehicular ad hoc networks with integration of communication, sensing and computing

The integration of communications, sensing and computing (I-CSC) has significant applications in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). A roadside unit (RSU) plays an important role in I-CSC by performing functions such as information transmission and edge computing in vehicular communication. Due to the constraints of limited resources, RSU cannot achieve full coverage and deploying RSUs at key cluster heads of hierarchical structures of road networks is an effective management method. However, direct extracting the hierarchical structures for the resource allocation in VANETs is an open issue. In this paper, we proposed a network-based renormalization method based on information flow and geographical location to hierarchically deploy the RSU on the road networks. The renormalization method is compared with two deployment schemes: genetic algorithm (GA) and memetic framework-based optimal RSU deployment (MFRD), to verify the improvement of communication performance. Our results show that the renormalization method is superior to other schemes in terms of RSU coverage and information reception rate.