A Tool Offering Steady-State Simulations for VANETs

Without realistic vehicle mobility patterns, the evaluation of communication protocols in vehicular networks is compromised. Moreover, in order to ensure repeatability and fairness in vehicular simulations, researchers require simulation tools that allow them to have a complete control of simulations. In this paper we present VACaMobil, a Mobility Manager for the OMNeT++ simulator which offers a way to create complex scenarios with realistic vehicular mobility by allowing to define the desired average number of vehicles, along with its upper and lower bounds, which are maintained throughout the simulation. We compare VACaMobil against other commonly used methods which also generate and manage vehicular mobility. Results expose some flaws of those basic tools, and shows that VACaMobil behaves significantly better. The harmful impact on communication protocols when using common tools is also quantified, revealing VACaMobil as a necessity for current research.