ZTE

ZTE Communications ›› 2014, Vol. 12 ›› Issue (1): 26-32.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5188.2014.01.004

• Special Topic • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Unveiling the Challenges in Improving Data Availability in Vehicular Networks with Network Coding

Zhenni Feng1, Yanmin Zhu1,2, Qian Zhang3, Min Gao4   

  1. 1. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China;
    2. Shanghai Key Lab of Scalable Computing and Systems, Shanghai 200240, China;
    3. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China;
    4. HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School, Guangzhou 511400, China
  • Received:2014-02-24 Online:2014-03-25 Published:2014-03-25
  • About author:Zhenni Feng (zhennifeng@sjtu.edu.cn) received her BEng degree in computer science and technology from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, in 2012. She is now a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research interests include participatory sensing, vehicular networks, and game theory.
    Yanmin Zhu (yzhu@cs.sjtu.edu.cn) obtained his PhD in computer science from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2007. He received his BEng. from Xian Jiao Tong University in 2002. He is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Prior to this, he was a research associate in the Department of Computing, Imperial College London. His research interests include ad hoc sensor networks, mobile computing, grid computing, and resource management in distributed systems. He is a member of the IEEE and IEEE Communication Society.
    Qian Zhang (qianzh@cse.ust.hk) received her BS, MS, and PhD degrees in computer science from Wuhan University, China, in 1994, 1996, and 1999. She joined Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in September 2005 as an associate professor. She has published more than 200 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings on topics such as wireless/Internet multimedia networking, wireless communications and networking, and overlay networking. She is a fellow of the IEEE.
    Min Gao (mgao@cse.ust.hk) received his MS degree from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, in 2005. He is a researcher at HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School. His research interests include wireless sensor networks, RFID, and smart phones.
  • Supported by:
    This work is supported by China 973 Program (2014CB340303), NSFC (No. 61170238, 60903190), and National 863 Program (2013AA01A601).

Unveiling the Challenges in Improving Data Availability in Vehicular Networks with Network Coding

Zhenni Feng1, Yanmin Zhu1,2, Qian Zhang3, Min Gao4   

  1. 1. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China;
    2. Shanghai Key Lab of Scalable Computing and Systems, Shanghai 200240, China;
    3. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China;
    4. HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School, Guangzhou 511400, China
  • 作者简介:Zhenni Feng (zhennifeng@sjtu.edu.cn) received her BEng degree in computer science and technology from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, in 2012. She is now a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research interests include participatory sensing, vehicular networks, and game theory.
    Yanmin Zhu (yzhu@cs.sjtu.edu.cn) obtained his PhD in computer science from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2007. He received his BEng. from Xian Jiao Tong University in 2002. He is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Prior to this, he was a research associate in the Department of Computing, Imperial College London. His research interests include ad hoc sensor networks, mobile computing, grid computing, and resource management in distributed systems. He is a member of the IEEE and IEEE Communication Society.
    Qian Zhang (qianzh@cse.ust.hk) received her BS, MS, and PhD degrees in computer science from Wuhan University, China, in 1994, 1996, and 1999. She joined Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in September 2005 as an associate professor. She has published more than 200 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings on topics such as wireless/Internet multimedia networking, wireless communications and networking, and overlay networking. She is a fellow of the IEEE.
    Min Gao (mgao@cse.ust.hk) received his MS degree from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, in 2005. He is a researcher at HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School. His research interests include wireless sensor networks, RFID, and smart phones.
  • 基金资助:
    This work is supported by China 973 Program (2014CB340303), NSFC (No. 61170238, 60903190), and National 863 Program (2013AA01A601).

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Abstract: Retrieving data from mobile source vehicles is a crucial routine operation for a wide spectrum of vehicular network applications, including road surface monitoring and sharing. Network coding has been widely exploited and is an effective technique for diffusing information over a network. The use of network coding to improve data availability in vehicular networks is explored in this paper. With random linear network codes, simple replication is avoided, and instead, a node forwards a coded block that is a random combination of all data received by the node. We use a network-coding-based approach to improve data availability in vehicular networks. To determine the feasibility of this approach, we conducted an empirical study with extensive simulations based on two real vehicular GPS traces, both of which contain records from thousands of vehicles over more than a year. We observed that, despite significant improvement in data availability, there is a serious issue with linear correlation between the received codes. This reduces the data-retrieval success rate. By analyzing the real vehicular traces, we discovered that there is a strong community structure within a real vehicular network. We verify that such a structure contributes to the issue of linear dependence. Then, we point out opportunities to improve the network-coding-based approach by developing community-aware code-distribution techniques.

Key words: vehicular networks, network coding, data availability

摘要： Retrieving data from mobile source vehicles is a crucial routine operation for a wide spectrum of vehicular network applications, including road surface monitoring and sharing. Network coding has been widely exploited and is an effective technique for diffusing information over a network. The use of network coding to improve data availability in vehicular networks is explored in this paper. With random linear network codes, simple replication is avoided, and instead, a node forwards a coded block that is a random combination of all data received by the node. We use a network-coding-based approach to improve data availability in vehicular networks. To determine the feasibility of this approach, we conducted an empirical study with extensive simulations based on two real vehicular GPS traces, both of which contain records from thousands of vehicles over more than a year. We observed that, despite significant improvement in data availability, there is a serious issue with linear correlation between the received codes. This reduces the data-retrieval success rate. By analyzing the real vehicular traces, we discovered that there is a strong community structure within a real vehicular network. We verify that such a structure contributes to the issue of linear dependence. Then, we point out opportunities to improve the network-coding-based approach by developing community-aware code-distribution techniques.

关键词: vehicular networks, network coding, data availability