Vehicular Ad Hoc Network Microsimulation System for
Transportation, Wireless, and Traveler Behavior
James Gabriel Haran, Ph.D.
Department of Computer Science
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois (2011)
Dissertation Chairperson: Peter Nelson, Ph.D.
This research defines the Traveler Agent Intelligent Transportation Simulator, TrAITS, for the
verification and analysis of coordinated traveler-based activities aided by wireless enabled
devices integrating multiple models of transportation. This provides a foundation for research into
the characteristics of applications, devices, and services within Intelligent Transportation
Systems, Computational Transportation Science, and Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks using proven
methods from the fields of wireless networking, transportation science and traffic modeling, and
computer science.
This simulation environment models Intelligent Transportation Systems applications in multiple
forms including those integrated with vehicle hardware or provided as applications on wireless
devices. A researcher may leverage this design to model travelers interacting with a multi-modal
transportation environment at a fraction of the real-world deployment investment. Agent-based
simulation components within this environment provide a basis for validating traveler behavior,
traffic sensors and actuators, and services built upon simulated wireless and transportation
devices. The characteristics of real and simulation environments are also analyzed as a basis for
calibration.
An additional contribution is the design of compound utility-based clustering algorithms,
verified through simulation, which employ wireless networking and vehicular characteristics to
improve the stability of vehicular ad hoc network clusters thereby decreasing network
communication overhead.