Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/H018816/1
Title:	Novel communication primitives for vehicular ad-hoc networks
Principal Investigator:	Kowalski, Professor DR
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Computer Science
Organisation:	University of Liverpool
Scheme:	Standard Research
Starts:	20 July 2010	Ends:	19 July 2011	Value (£):	56,890
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Mobile Computing Networks & Distributed Systems
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Communications Transport Systems and Vehicles
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 30 Sep 2009 ICT Prioritisation Panel (Oct 09) Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
In recent years wireless network technology has gained tremendous importance. It not only more and more replaces so far wired network installations but also opens new dimensions in the availability of high-bandwidth connections for mobile applications. In many application areas, the integration of wireless communication together with autonomous sensing devices leads to an improved quality of service due to the immediate availability of measurements and data about the current mode of operation.The goal of this proposal is identification and development of basic communication primitives in the context of vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs).Vehicular ad-hoc networks are to provide communication between vehicles as well as nearby roadside equipment in order to improve both safety and comfort for the individual traffic participants and to enhance the capabilities of existing traffic management infrastructure.Only recently, the scale of miniaturization has allowed for untethered micro sensors that can be deployed almost anywhere and measure various factors -- traffic flow, water level, number of people walking by, or temperature. As Nobel laureate Horst Stormer has put it, ''this is developing into something like a nervous system for the earth''. Before this vision comes to reality, though, many challenges have to be solved. While the necessary hardware (sensor and wireless devices) by now has developed to considerable maturity, the underlying basic communication primitives, as well as the general system infrastructure, is still in the process of being well understood. Many fundamental and challenging problems are to be considered,including:(i) How can vehicles, especially those whose tours cross only for a short period of time, reliably exchange information?(ii) How can a vehicle efficiently accumulate and aggregate the data gathered by itself or by other vehicles it has met such that it can be transferred to a central base station without wasting too much communication bandwidth?(iii) Which processes require a central coordination instance and which do not?Such basic questions of communication, data aggregation and distributability of operation, are the foundations of this proposal.In the course of this project it is expected that new theoretical insights are obtained for VANETs applications. We intend to identify and develop the basic communication primitives in the context of wireless ad-hoc networks. In particular, we aim at combining both short-range vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-roadside communication with long-range, but low-bandwidth, GPRS global Internet connection. Only recently, the cost of GPRS bandwidth has reached the level where permanent connections are viable for the general user. The availability of a low-cost (but low-bandwidth) Internet connection at every vehicle allows for effective coordination of the higher-bandwidth but very short-lived vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-roadside communications.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.liv.ac.uk