A novel macroscopic mobility model for vehicular networks

Researchers face a great challenge when evaluating large-scale vehicular ad hoc network solutions. Since it is not feasible to perform real experiments in this case, and there are no large-scale testbeds available, simulation is the most frequently used evaluation technique, which requires a realistic mobility model to provide accurate results. However, building large-scale realistic vehicular mobility models is a difficult task and many important characteristics have been neglected, particularly macroscopic ones. In this work, a realistic vehicular mobility trace is characterized and macroscopic features are inferred. Based on this characterization, we propose and validate a macroscopic mobility model that provides more realistic characteristics to the vehicular network evaluation process. The obtained results contribute to the research community by providing a more realistic macroscopic model that complements many vehicular mobility generators available in the literature. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.