WVSN: towards merging vehicular ad hoc networks and wireless sensor networks

Abstract

This paper reviews current applications based on Wireless Vehicular Sensor Networking (WVSN); an emerg- ing type of wireless and mobile networks that combines wireless sensor networks (WSN) and vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET). Some recent researches have been devoted to proposing new solutions for several vehicular applications using networked wireless sensors, but an up-to-date state-of-the-art paper of these works is missing. To our knowledge, this manuscript is the first that provides a comprehensive survey discussing the potential civilian applications of WVSN, the solutions proposed thus far, and the remaining challenges. According to the application domain, solution are split into: i) safety applications, ii) traffic management and vehicle tracking, iii) environment and urban monitoring. State-of-the art solutions using networked wireless sensors, and involving carto-car and/or car to roadside communications are reviewed for each category. Current commercial solutions using wired sensors or individual sensors are out of the motivation of this survey.

Keywords: Vehicular ad hoc networks, wireless sensor networks, mobile networks and applications