Location-Based Hierarchical Data Aggregation in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Existing road traffic information systems rely on fixed infrastructures to manage traffic data. The deployment and maintenance cost of such infrastructures, however, is very high. With on-board sensors and wireless short range communication, infrastructure-less traffic data management based on inter-vehicle communication will be viable in the near future, with data aggregation being a key issue for data management. In this paper, we review some of the existing data aggregation strategies in wireless ad hoc networks and discuss new data aggregation challenges. Finally, we present a novel location-based hierarchical data aggregation approach, which is scalable and robust with regard to high vehicle mobility.