Decentralized Congestion Control Algorithm Research Articles

Experimental Evaluation of the ETSI DCC Adaptive Approach and Related Algorithms

Decentralized Congestion Control (DCC) mechanisms have been a core part of protocol stacks for vehicular networks since their inception and standardization. The ETSI ITS-G5 protocol stack for vehicular communications considers the usage of DCC not only in the network or access layers, but also as a part of the cross-layer architecture that influences how often messages are generated and transmitted. ETSI DCC mechanisms have evolved from a reactive approach based on a finite state machine, to an adaptive approach that relies on a linear control algorithm. This linear control algorithm, called LIMERIC, is the basis of the mechanism used in the ETSI DCC Adaptive Approach. The behavior of this algorithm depends on a set of parameters. Different values for these parameters have been proposed in the literature, including those defined in the ETSI specification. A recent proposal is Dual- $\alpha $ , which chooses parameters to improve convergence and fairness when the algorithm has to react to fast changes in the use of the shared medium (transitory situations). This article evaluates, by means of simulations, the performance of the ETSI DCC Adaptive Approach and related algorithms, considering both steady state and transitory situations. Results show that a bad selection of parameters can make a DCC algorithm ineffective, that the ETSI DCC Adaptive algorithm performs well in steady state conditions, and that Dual- $\alpha $ performs as well in steady state conditions and outperforms the ETSI DCC Adaptive Approach in transitory scenarios.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the ETSI Adaptive DCC Algorithm: A Proposal for Improvement

This letter studies the adaptive decentralized congestion control (DCC) algorithm defined in the ETSI TS 102 687 V1.2.1 specification. We provide insights on the parameters used in the algorithm and explore the impact of those parameters on its performance. We show how the algorithm achieves good average medium utilization while protecting against congestion, but we also show how the chosen parameters can result in slow speed of convergence and long periods of unfairness in transitory situations. Finally, we propose a modification to the algorithm which results in significant improvements in the speed of convergence and fairness.

Age-of-Information-Aware Decentralized Congestion Control in VANETs

Decentralized Congestion Control (DCC) is one the central components of the inter-vehicular communications protocol stack enabling Cooperative Intelligent Transportation System (C-ITS). In this letter, we first present an analytical model for the evaluation of DCC in IEEE 802.11p/ITS-G5 vehicular networks. Then, we use it to tune the DCC algorithm specified by ETSI, and suggest two approaches which allow to not only avoid channel congestion, but also to meet C-ITS application requirements on age-of-information, what makes our approach practically relevant for safety critical C-ITS.

ECPR: Environment-and context-aware combined power and rate distributed congestion control for vehicular communications

Safety and efficiency applications in vehicular networks rely on the exchange of periodic messages between vehicles. These messages contain position, speed, heading, and other vital information that makes the vehicles aware of their surroundings. The drawback of exchanging periodic cooperative messages is that they generate significant channel load. Decentralized Congestion Control (DCC) algorithms have been proposed to minimize the channel load. However, while the rationale for periodic message exchange is to improve awareness, existing DCC algorithms do not use awareness as a metric for deciding when, at what power, and at what rate the periodic messages need to be sent in order to make sure all vehicles are informed. We propose an environment- and context-aware DCC algorithm combines power and rate control in order to improve cooperative awareness by adapting to both specific propagation environments (e.g., urban intersections, open highways, suburban roads) as well as application requirements (e.g., different target cooperative awareness range). Studying various operational conditions (e.g., speed, direction, and application requirement), ECPR adjusts the transmit power of the messages in order to reach the desired awareness ratio at the target distance while at the same time controlling the channel load using an adaptive rate control algorithm. By performing extensive simulations, including realistic propagation as well as environment modeling and realistic vehicle operational environments (varying demand on both awareness range and rate), we show that ECPR can increase awareness by 20% while keeping the channel load and interference at almost the same level. When permitted by the awareness requirements, ECPR can improve the average message rate by 18% compared to algorithms that perform rate adaptation only.