Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) offloading from cellular network to 802.11p Wi-Fi network based on the Software-Defined Network (SDN) architecture

This paper proposes a prediction control scheme called Offloading with Handover Decision based on Software-Defined Network (OHD–SDN) for the offloading of the vehicle-to-infrastructure communication using the Software-Defined Network (SDN) Architecture. In the proposed control scheme, when the vehicle with an On Board Unit (OBU), which has a cellular network interface and an IEEE 802.11p network interface, connects to cellular network, the SDN Controller monitors it to make decision about the offloading indication based on the reported information, including speed, geographical position, direction, and sensed neighboring RSUs' IDs, from the vehicle. The SDN Controller calculates when the due time is to make decision, decides whether it is suitable or not to have the vehicle to handoff from cellular network to the ahead IEEE 802.11p network of a RSU, and then notifies the vehicle to stay in cellular network if the networking situation of the ahead RSUs IEEE 802.11p network is not suitable or to switch from cellular network to the ahead RSUs IEEE 802.11p network if the networking situation of the ahead RSU's IEEE 802.11p network is suitable. The simulation results show that the cellular networks load and traffic can be reduced and the networking quality of the vehicle being in the IEEE 802.11p network of a RSU can be assured using the proposed OHD–SDN control scheme.