Role of Roadside Units in Cluster Head Election and Coverage Maximization for Vehicle Emergency Services

Efficient clustering algorithms are critical for enabling the timely dissemination of emergency messages across maximum coverage areas in vehicular networks. While existing clustering approaches demonstrate stability and scalability, there has been a limited amount of work focused on leveraging road...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ravneet Kaur, Robin Doss, Lei Pan, Chaitanya Singla, Selvarajah Thuseethan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Computers
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/14/4/152
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850144976937156608
author Ravneet Kaur
Robin Doss
Lei Pan
Chaitanya Singla
Selvarajah Thuseethan
author_facet Ravneet Kaur
Robin Doss
Lei Pan
Chaitanya Singla
Selvarajah Thuseethan
author_sort Ravneet Kaur
collection DOAJ
description Efficient clustering algorithms are critical for enabling the timely dissemination of emergency messages across maximum coverage areas in vehicular networks. While existing clustering approaches demonstrate stability and scalability, there has been a limited amount of work focused on leveraging roadside units (RSUs) for cluster head selection. This research proposes a novel framework that utilizes RSUs to facilitate cluster head election, mitigating the cluster head selection process, clustering overhead, and broadcast storm problem. The proposed scheme mandates selecting an optimal number of cluster heads to maximize information coverage and prevent traffic congestion, thereby enhancing the quality of service through improved cluster head duration, reduced cluster formation time, expanded coverage area, and decreased overhead. The framework comprises three key components: (I) an acknowledgment-based system for legitimate vehicle entry into the RSU for cluster head selection; (II) an authoritative node behavior mechanism for choosing cluster heads from received notifications; and (III) the role of bridge nodes in maximizing the coverage of the established network. The comparative analysis evaluates the clustering framework’s performance under uniform and non-uniform vehicle speed scenarios for time-barrier-based emergency message dissemination in vehicular ad hoc networks. The results demonstrate that the proposed model’s effectiveness for uniform highway speed scenarios is 100% whereas for non-uniform scenarios 99.55% information coverage is obtained. Furthermore, the clustering process accelerates by over 50%, decreasing overhead and reducing cluster head election time using RSUs. The proposed approach outperforms existing methods for the number of cluster heads, cluster head election time, total cluster formation time, and maximum information coverage across varying vehicle densities.
format Article
id doaj-art-b9de185b93bc4c9fbc1b3df3f03ada21
institution OA Journals
issn 2073-431X
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Computers
spelling doaj-art-b9de185b93bc4c9fbc1b3df3f03ada212025-08-20T02:28:12ZengMDPI AGComputers2073-431X2025-04-0114415210.3390/computers14040152Role of Roadside Units in Cluster Head Election and Coverage Maximization for Vehicle Emergency ServicesRavneet Kaur0Robin Doss1Lei Pan2Chaitanya Singla3Selvarajah Thuseethan4Department of Computer Science-APEX, Chandigarh Engineering College, Chandigarh Group of Colleges Jhanjeri, Kharar, Mohali 140307, Punjab, IndiaSchool of Information Technology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3216, AustraliaSchool of Information Technology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3216, AustraliaDepartment of Computer Science-APEX, Chandigarh Engineering College, Chandigarh Group of Colleges Jhanjeri, Kharar, Mohali 140307, Punjab, IndiaFaculty of Science and Technology, Charles Darwin University, Casuarina, NT 0810, AustraliaEfficient clustering algorithms are critical for enabling the timely dissemination of emergency messages across maximum coverage areas in vehicular networks. While existing clustering approaches demonstrate stability and scalability, there has been a limited amount of work focused on leveraging roadside units (RSUs) for cluster head selection. This research proposes a novel framework that utilizes RSUs to facilitate cluster head election, mitigating the cluster head selection process, clustering overhead, and broadcast storm problem. The proposed scheme mandates selecting an optimal number of cluster heads to maximize information coverage and prevent traffic congestion, thereby enhancing the quality of service through improved cluster head duration, reduced cluster formation time, expanded coverage area, and decreased overhead. The framework comprises three key components: (I) an acknowledgment-based system for legitimate vehicle entry into the RSU for cluster head selection; (II) an authoritative node behavior mechanism for choosing cluster heads from received notifications; and (III) the role of bridge nodes in maximizing the coverage of the established network. The comparative analysis evaluates the clustering framework’s performance under uniform and non-uniform vehicle speed scenarios for time-barrier-based emergency message dissemination in vehicular ad hoc networks. The results demonstrate that the proposed model’s effectiveness for uniform highway speed scenarios is 100% whereas for non-uniform scenarios 99.55% information coverage is obtained. Furthermore, the clustering process accelerates by over 50%, decreasing overhead and reducing cluster head election time using RSUs. The proposed approach outperforms existing methods for the number of cluster heads, cluster head election time, total cluster formation time, and maximum information coverage across varying vehicle densities.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/14/4/152vehicular ad hoc networksclusteringinformation coveragebridge nodecluster headroadside unit
spellingShingle Ravneet Kaur
Robin Doss
Lei Pan
Chaitanya Singla
Selvarajah Thuseethan
Role of Roadside Units in Cluster Head Election and Coverage Maximization for Vehicle Emergency Services
Computers
vehicular ad hoc networks
clustering
information coverage
bridge node
cluster head
roadside unit
title Role of Roadside Units in Cluster Head Election and Coverage Maximization for Vehicle Emergency Services
title_full Role of Roadside Units in Cluster Head Election and Coverage Maximization for Vehicle Emergency Services
title_fullStr Role of Roadside Units in Cluster Head Election and Coverage Maximization for Vehicle Emergency Services
title_full_unstemmed Role of Roadside Units in Cluster Head Election and Coverage Maximization for Vehicle Emergency Services
title_short Role of Roadside Units in Cluster Head Election and Coverage Maximization for Vehicle Emergency Services
title_sort role of roadside units in cluster head election and coverage maximization for vehicle emergency services
topic vehicular ad hoc networks
clustering
information coverage
bridge node
cluster head
roadside unit
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/14/4/152
work_keys_str_mv AT ravneetkaur roleofroadsideunitsinclusterheadelectionandcoveragemaximizationforvehicleemergencyservices
AT robindoss roleofroadsideunitsinclusterheadelectionandcoveragemaximizationforvehicleemergencyservices
AT leipan roleofroadsideunitsinclusterheadelectionandcoveragemaximizationforvehicleemergencyservices
AT chaitanyasingla roleofroadsideunitsinclusterheadelectionandcoveragemaximizationforvehicleemergencyservices
AT selvarajahthuseethan roleofroadsideunitsinclusterheadelectionandcoveragemaximizationforvehicleemergencyservices