Importance of realistic mobility models for vanet network simulation

Abstract: In the performance evaluation of a protocol for a vehicular ad hoc network, the protocol should be tested under a realistic conditions including, representative data traffic models, and realistic movements of the mobile nodes which are the vehicles (i.e., a mobility model). This work is a comparative study between two mobility models that are used in the simulations of vehicular networks, i.e., MOVE (MObility model generator for VEhicular networks) and CityMob, a mobility pattern generator for VANET. We describe several mobility models for VANET simulations. In this paper we aim to show that the mobility models can significantly affect the simulation results in VANET networks. The results presented in this article prove the importance of choosing a suitable real world scenario for performances studies of routing protocols in this kind of network.