When vehicles meet TV white space: A QoS guaranteed dynamic spectrum access approach for VANET

Vehicular ad hoc network(VANET) is an emerging wireless communication scenario and has caught the attentions of both academia and industry. However, some challenges still exist, one of which is the spectrum scarcity problem, especially for the throughput-demanding downlink infotainment services. In this paper, we present a solution to the problem by introducing the state-of-the-art cognitive radio technology, namely the exploitation of TV white space(TVWS). First, we give an overview of the compositions of this new networking paradigm. Then, taking into account the characteristics of both VANET and TVWS, we develop a novel TVWS resource model tailored for the system. After that, we focus on the dynamic spectrum access problem and formulate it as a matching between vehicles/requests and available channels. Both the throughput of the network and the guarantee of QoS are considered during the calculation of preference lists. Furthermore, an algorithm is also brought forth to implement the matching process. It is proved that after the execution of the algorithm, the matching is stable and vehicle-optimal. Numerical results demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of our system. © 2014 IEEE.