176
2017 17th IEEE International Conference on Communication Technology
Saturated Throughput Analysis of Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks over Rayleigh-
Fading Channels
Wuwen Lai, Ning Guan, Han Liu, Hua Wang
School of Information and Electronics
Beijing Institute of Technology
Beijing, China
e-mail: {laiwuwen2013, guanning, 3120140335, wanghua}@bit.edu.cn
Abstract—Throughput is a key network performance for
disseminating infotainment services in Vehicular Ad Hoc
Networks (VANETs). However, when throughput is analyzed
by Markov chain, wireless channel conditions and vehicle
speed are not taken into account in modeling Medium Access
Control (MAC) operations. In this paper, we propose an
improved Markov chain model combining the above two
factors to calculate the transmission probability. The saturated
throughput is evaluated with considering MAC operations,
wireless channel conditions, and vehicle speed. Compared with
the basic model, our proposed model can accurately evaluate
the saturation throughput with consideration of the
aforementioned three factors simultaneously.
Keywords-VANETs; performance analysis; Markov chain;
Rayleigh fading
I.
I
NTRODUCTION
In recent years, Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs)
are experiencing a rapid development due to many emerging
applications in Intelligent Transportation System (ITS).
Safety applications, traffic efficiency enhancements and
information/entertainment (infotainment) services are three
kinds of emerging applications in VANETs. Distributed
Coordination Function (DCF) known as Carrier Sense
Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA)
protocol is adopted in IEEE 802.11p [1]. VANETs have
some unique characteristics: high mobility, fast changing
density, and unstable topology. Network communication
may become unstable due to these characteristics. Cluster-
based methods appear to be promising approaches to fix the
aforementioned problems, because nearby vehicles in the
same direction can be formed a cluster providing relatively a
stable unit for communication [2], [3].
Most works have focused on safety applications in
VANETs, which are aimed at avoiding the risk of car
accidents. Markov chain models usually are introduced to
analyze and evaluate network performances in disseminating
safety-related messages. Lately the focus in VANETs
research also turns to non-safety applications [4], especially
infotainment services. The combination of information and
entertainment services is called infotainment services, which
can enhance in-car users’ experience. Infotainment services
are more throughput-sensitive rather than delay-sensitive.
Throughput is a key performance metric to measure the
system effectiveness. In Bianchi seminal paper, a two-
dimensional Markov chain was proposed to estimate
saturated throughput for unicast transmission [5]. According
to Bianchi model, many improved Markov chain models
have been developed to discuss saturated or unsaturated
conditions. All models in [6]-[9] assumed that wireless
channel conditions in Physical layer (PHY) are ideal.
However, wireless channel quality has a significant impact
on throughput. Enhanced Markov chain models [10], [11]
have been designed with consideration a constant frame error
probability, but the constant frame error probability cannot
reflect the influence of detailed channel parameters (such as:
path loss exponent, the distance between sender and receiver,
and transmit power) on network performances. Some
analytical models were proposed with considering the effect
of detailed channel parameters on network performances in
[12], [13]. However, the transmission probabilities calculated
by Markov chain models still ignore channel quality.
In this paper, an analytical model is proposed to estimate
saturated throughput for basic access model in a cluster
considering both wireless channel conditions and MAC
operations. In this model, the transmission probability is
calculated with the wireless channel parameters. In addition,
the vehicle speed is also taken into account when calculating
the transmission probability, because vehicle mobility is an
important characteristic in VANETs. Extensive simulations
show that the proposed model is capable of accurately
depicting saturation throughput.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section
II, related work is described. In section III, System model
and throughput analysis are presented. In section IV,
simulation and numerical results are given. Finally,
conclusions are drawn in section V.
II.
R
ELATED
W
ORK
Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) has
become the standard for Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V)
communication, Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I)
communication and hybrid communication. The DSRC
standard, also known as IEEE 802.11p, uses a 5.9 GHz
licensed spectrum. The MAC layer of IEEE 802.11p adopts
CSMA/CA mechanism. Markov chain has been used to
model the back-off procedure of CSMA/CA in many works.
Assuming ideal channel conditions and finite number of
terminals, an analytical model based on two-dimensional
Markov chain was developed to evaluate saturated
throughput both in basic access and Request-to-Send/Clear-
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