In recent years, vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) have received increasing attention because of their promising roles in many urban applications. VANETs are distinguished from other kinds of ad-hoc networks, such as Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANETs), by high mobility and reduced communications. The topology of the network is highly time-varying due to high mobility of wireless nodes, and also joining and leaving nodes. This makes it challenging to find and maintain efficient and reliable data forwarding routes between different nodes in the network. On the other hand, equipments such as positioning systems usually exist in contemporary vehicles which can be used to improve the efficiency of packet dissemination through the network. This dissertation proposes TIGeR, a new Traffic-aware Intersection-based Geographical Routing protocol. Nodes that are at intersections make routing decision to forward packets based on both the local vehicular traffic information of different roads and the road’s angle with respect to the direct vector toward the destination. Local vehicular traffic information is considered as a sign of network connectivity in a road. To route data packets in streets, we propose a directional forwarding method which sends a packet straightly in the selected street, until it reaches the next intersection. Simulation results show that TIGeR improves the packet delivery ratio and end to end delay, compared to other similar protocols. Key words : Vehicular ad-hoc networks, Geographical routing, Urban scenarios, Traffic aware routing, Junction based routing.
