Connectivity Management in an Integrated Heterogeneous Social Networks Framework in Vehicular Environments

Abstract

In the last decade, Online Social Networks (OSNs) have emerged as one of the most disruptive communication platforms with high socio-economic value, used every day by billions of users to connect with friends, colleagues, and any other user with social ties and common interests. Social features are pervasively penetrating in our daily life not only by means of OSNs, but also in other contexts, such as that of vehicular ad-hoc networks. Vehicular Social Networks (VSNs) are enhanced with social features that impact not only on societal services, but especially on connectivity and communication performance. As a result, the coexistence of both OSNs and VSNs can represent a benefit for both two domains, allowing the creation of a unique network framework for connectivity maintenance. This paper presents a connectivity management technique in a heterogeneous network framework, namely SOLVER, comprised of both OSN and VSN communities for data exchange among nodes belonging to different networks. Connectivity switching is allowed in case of expected connectivity loss, as well as degradation of network performance. Results assess the effectiveness of SOLVER framework as compared to traditional Client-Server and Peer-to-Peer architectural modes.