A reliable link-layer protocol for robust and scalable intervehicle communications

Current link-layer protocols for safety-related intervehicle communication (IVC) networks suffer from significant scalability and security challenges. Carrier sense multiple-access approaches produce excessive transmission collisions at high vehicle densities and are vulnerable to a variety of denial of service (DoS) attacks. Explicit time slot allocation approaches tend to be limited by the need for a fixed infrastructure, a high number of control messages, or poor bandwidth utilization, particularly in low-density traffic. This paper presents a novel adaptation of the explicit time slot allocation protocols for IVC networks. The protocol adaptive space-division multiplexing (ASDM) requires no control messages, provides protection against a range of DoS attacks, significantly improves bandwidth utilization, and automatically adjusts the time slot allocation in response to changes in vehicle densities. This paper demonstrates the need for and the effectiveness of this new protocol. The exposures of the current proposals to attacks on availability and integrity, as well as the improvements effected by ASDM, are analytically evaluated. Furthermore, through simulation studies, ASDM's ability to provide message delivery guarantees is contrasted with the inability of the current IVC proposals to do the same.