Event Message Clustering Algorithm for Selection of Majority Message in VANETs

The trustworthiness of nodes in Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs) is essential for disseminating truthful event messages. False messages may cause vehicles to behave in unintended ways, creating an unreliable transportation system. The efficiency and reliability of the transportation system can be obtained through trustworthy vehicular nodes providing correct event messages. In a VANET, the consensus issue can be resolved by employing blockchain. Even if we employ blockchain in a VANET, the trustworthiness of each message recorded needs to be verified separately since the blockchain itself does not guarantee the trust level of each event message. For instance, when there are multiple conflicting messages associated with a single accident on the road, a vote based on majority opinion can be considered one option for making a decision regarding the accident. In this work, we design the VANET event message clustering algorithm (VEMCA) to resolve the conflicting message problem. Furthermore, we develop a simulator for the VANET environment that demonstrates how the clustering algorithm can be used for event message validation. Experimental results show that our algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art clustering algorithms in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, f1-score, and computational time.