Performance Analysis of a MAC Protocol under Realistic Channel Characteristics in a Motorway Environment

Studying the vehicular traffic profiles on a motorway gives us a unique insight into the dynamics of drivers' behaviour. This behavioural study provides us with an important utility to develop applications and deploy infrastructure according to the need. Consequently, it enables us to design and develop accurate motorway vehicular simulators and robust medium access control (MAC) protocols that can adapt to the dynamic vehicular environment. After developing a motorway vehicular simulator, in this paper, we introduce a modified version of packet reservation multiple access (M-PRMA) protocol. Furthermore, we evaluate the impact of physical impairments on the M-PRMA protocol and propose an approach to maintain the required quality of service (QoS).