Collaborative Caching for Dynamic Map Dissemination in Vehicular Networks

Abstract

This paper introduces a vehicular content caching mechanism for disseminating navigational maps while minimizing cellular network bandwidth usage. The key concept is to collaboratively cache the dynamic components of navigational maps in roadside units (RSUs) and vehicles such that the majority of dissemination can be accomplished using V2V and V2I communication links. In this way, the usage of cellular links from the vehicles can be minimized. Following the development of a dynamic map object model, the paper develops a collaborating caching framework, which is then evaluated using ONE, a delay tolerant network simulator. Simulation experiments were conducted for different protocols and network parameters. The results indicate that compared to infrastructure-only caching strategies, the proposed vehicle-involved collaborative caching mechanism is able to reduce the bandwidth usage of cellular networks and the delivery delay for obtaining dynamic map data.