Hybrid-Aware Collaborative Multipath Communications for Heterogeneous Vehicular Networks

With the large-scale deployment of wireless access technologies and infrastructures, heterogeneous vehicular networks have been widely studied in recent years. However, it produces unstable link reconstruction due to frequent switch among heterogeneous access networks. Multipath TCP (MPTCP) becomes a promising means to maintain link connectivity by using multiple access interfaces. How to efficiently collaborate multiple links is still a challenge. In this article, we propose Hybrid-Aware Collaborative Multipath Communications for Heterogeneous Vehicular Networks, named HCMC-V. First, we accurately evaluate the weights of different paths by real-time sensing the propagation delay, the packet drop rate, and the bottleneck link capacity. Then, we present a hybrid-aware multipath collaboration mechanism which considers path weights in its decision making process. HCMC-V provides transparent and effective vehicular services through multiple available wireless technologies. Finally, extensive simulations show that HCMC-V significantly reduces transmission delay and improves packet transmission reliability.