Throughput and Economics of DSRC-Based Internet of Vehicles

Vehicular mesh networks could be an important new way to provide Internet access in urban areas using dedicated short range communications (DSRC). In some circumstances, DSRC technology is more cost-effective than expanding the capacity of cellular networks. We determine what those circumstances are by combining our simulation model with data collected from an actual vehicular network that is operating in Portugal. We use the model to estimate how much Internet traffic can be offloaded to vehicular networks that would otherwise be carried by cellular networks, under a variety of conditions. We use offloaded traffic to estimate the benefits of cost savings of reduced cellular infrastructure due to offload, and the cost of the DSRC vehicular network to carry that traffic. Then, we determine when benefit exceeds cost. We find that the benefits from the Internet traffic alone are not enough to justify a universal mandate to deploy DSRC in all vehicles, i.e., the benefits of Internet access alone are less than total costs. However, the majority of DSRC-related costs must be incurred anyway if safety is to be enhanced. Thus, soon after a mandate to put DSRC in new vehicles becomes effective, the benefits of Internet access through vehicular networks in densely populated areas would be significantly greater than the remaining costs, which are the costs of roadside infrastructure that can serve as a gateway to the Internet. Moreover, the benefit of Internet access would exceed DSRC infrastructure cost in regions with lower and lower population densities over time.