Modeling and Simulation of VANET Routing Protocols under Realistic Mobility Patterns

Modeling and Simulation of VANET Routing Protocols under Realistic Mobility Patterns | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Modeling and Simulation of VANET Routing Protocols under Realistic Mobility Patterns Sania Sharma, Satveer Kour, Himali Sarangal This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7463391/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 15 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs), a subclass of Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), rely on efficient routing protocols to maintain reliable communication in highly dynamic and decentralized environments. While numerous routing strategies have been proposed, their performance varies significantly with the choice of underlying mobility models that simulate real vehicular movement. This study presents a two-phase evaluation of five widely used routing protocols—Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), Destination-Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV), Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR), and Geographic Routing Protocol (GRP)—across fourteen realistic mobility models, including the Intelligent Driver Model (IDM), Car-Following Model (CFM), and Lighthill–Whitham–Richards (LWR) model. Simulations are executed using Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO), Network Simulator 3 (NS-3), and the Veins framework. The performance is assessed using eight key metrics: Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), End-to-End Delay (E2ED), Throughput, Jitter, Energy Consumption, Packet Loss Ratio (PLR), Normalized Routing Load (NRL), and Link Breakage Rate (LBR). Among all combinations, the AODV protocol paired with the CFM mobility model yielded the most optimal results: 93% PDR , 79.4 ms E2ED , 332 kbps throughput , 3.4 ms jitter , 3.48 J energy consumption , 7% PLR , 0.3 NRL , and 5 link breakages per simulation. This is the first comprehensive evaluation of five major routing protocols across fourteen realistic vehicular mobility models under a unified simulation framework. The findings provide practical guidance for selecting suitable protocol–mobility model combinations tailored to diverse traffic conditions in real-world VANET deployments. Physical sciences/Engineering Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing VANET Mobility Models Routing Protocols SUMO Simulation Performance Metrics NS-3 Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 15 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 15 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 14 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 12 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 12 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 23 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 18 Sep, 2025 Editor invited by journal 16 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 15 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 15 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7463391","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":524461358,"identity":"2619ddd1-d721-4724-a669-6b57f0d60cea","order_by":0,"name":"Sania 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While numerous routing strategies have been proposed, their performance varies significantly with the choice of underlying mobility models that simulate real vehicular movement. This study presents a two-phase evaluation of five widely used routing protocols—Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), Destination-Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV), Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR), and Geographic Routing Protocol (GRP)—across fourteen realistic mobility models, including the Intelligent Driver Model (IDM), Car-Following Model (CFM), and Lighthill–Whitham–Richards (LWR) model. Simulations are executed using Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO), Network Simulator 3 (NS-3), and the Veins framework. The performance is assessed using eight key metrics: Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), End-to-End Delay (E2ED), Throughput, Jitter, Energy Consumption, Packet Loss Ratio (PLR), Normalized Routing Load (NRL), and Link Breakage Rate (LBR). Among all combinations, the AODV protocol paired with the CFM mobility model yielded the most optimal results: \u003cstrong\u003e93% PDR\u003c/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003e79.4 ms E2ED\u003c/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003e332 kbps throughput\u003c/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003e3.4 ms jitter\u003c/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003e3.48 J energy consumption\u003c/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003e7% PLR\u003c/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003e0.3 NRL\u003c/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003e5 link breakages\u003c/strong\u003e per simulation. This is the first comprehensive evaluation of five major routing protocols across fourteen realistic vehicular mobility models under a unified simulation framework. 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