Vehicular Ad Hoc Network Microsimulation System for Transportation, Wireless, and Traveler Behavior

The vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) environment is best understood as the integration of a dynamic multi-modal transportation network, wireless communication, handheld and vehicular computing devices, and software services and applications that provide real-time access to transportation resources and facilitate the efficient coordination of activities. Real implementation of such an environment requires significant investment in transportation infrastructure, improvement to current wireless hardware devices, development of collaborative software systems, and integration of thousands of disparate transportations sensors. Given the prohibitive cost and logistics of implementing such an environment, the focus of this research is to provide a simulation platform for the rapid prototyping and analysis of the VANET devices using proven methods for simulation from the fields of wireless networking, transportation science and traffic modeling, and computer science.;This research builds upon techniques determined during previous investigations into the development of an Intelligent Traveler Assistant (ITA) which constitutes the fusion of many technologies into a device or series of services which assist a traveler in navigating the transportation network in an efficient and collaborative fashion. The ITA provides an individual user an interface into to the transportation features and options available by transportation providers and other ITA users. Some key capabilities previously identified include dynamic ridesharing, multi-modal route planning, dynamic route adaptation, public transportation option identification, and mass transit payment services, but this model may be similarly applied to any transportation or location-aware applications and is more readily realized today in the transit applications available on smartphones and in-vehicle driver assistance and navigation systems.;This research identifies several key infrastructure components of the VANET simulation framework through the design and implementation of an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) simulation platform capable of modeling the characteristics of multi-modal transportation, wireless communication, and user action or behavior within a federated platform. The ITA, as a collaborative transportation / wireless device or set of services, will require many key features to accomplish the goals within this and previous research. The goal of this work is to identify key components for wireless service, management infrastructure, transportation service infrastructure, ITA interaction, profile management, and routing while developing a robust simulation platform that combines the VISSIM transportation microsimulator with the SWANS wireless network simulator into the Traveler Agent Intelligent Transportation Simulator or TrAITS platform. The TrAITS platform designed and built as part of this research provides a foundation for future research into the characteristics of adoption and use of applications, devices, and services within ITS environments. By providing the basic foundation for follow-up analysis into the identified sub-components and services of the ITA environment this work will aid future research and real-world implementation.