The integration of cloud-fog-edge computing in Software-Defined Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (SDN-VANETs) brings a new paradigm that provides the needed resources for supporting a myriad of emerging applications. While an abundance of resources may offer many benefits, it also causes management problems. In this work, we propose an intelligent approach to flexibly and efficiently manage resources in these networks. The proposed approach makes use of an integrated fuzzy logic system that determines the most appropriate resources that vehicles should use when set under various circumstances. These circumstances cover the quality of the network created between the vehicles, its size and longevity, the number of available resources, and the requirements of applications. We evaluated the proposed approach by computer simulations. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach in coordinating and managing the available SDN-VANETs resources.

The highly competitive and rapidly advancing autonomous vehicle race has been on for several years now, and it has made the driver-assistance systems a shadow of their former self. Nevertheless, automated vehicles have many obstacles on the way, and until we have them on the roads, promising solutions that can be achievable in the near future should be sought-after. Driving-support technologies have proven themselves to be effective in the battle against car crashes, and with Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) supporting them, their efficiency is expected to rise steeply. In this work, we propose and implement a driving-support system which, on the one hand, could immensely benefit from major advancement of VANETs, but on the other hand can effectively be implemented as a stand-alone system. The proposed system consists of a non-intrusive integrated fuzzy-based system able to detect a risky situation in real time and alert the driver about the danger. It makes use of the information acquired from various in-car sensors as well as from communications with other vehicles and infrastructure to evaluate the condition of the considered parameters. The parameters include factors that affect the driver’s ability to drive, such as his/her current health condition and the inside environment in which he/she is driving, the vehicle speed, and factors related to the outside environment such as the weather and road condition. We show the effect of these parameters on the determination of the driving risk level through simulations and experiments and explain how these risk levels are translated into actions that can help the driver to manage certain risky situations, thus improving the driving safety.

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) face several technical challenges in deployment and management due to variable capacity of wireless links, bandwidth constrains, high latency and dynamic topology. Cloud, fog, and edge computing are considered a way to deal with these communication challenges. On the other hand, software defined networking (SDN) can be used to provide flexibility, programmability, scalability, and global knowledge as well as new services and features. In this article, the authors propose an intelligent approach for resource management in SDN-VANETs using fuzzy logic. A layered Cloud-Fog-Edge architecture in SDN-VANETs is introduced, which is coordinated by the SDN Controller (SDNC). A fuzzy-based system implemented in SDNC is used to make decisions on the processing layer of the VANETs application data. The decision is made by prioritizing the application requirements and by considering the available connections. The authors demonstrate in simulation the feasibility of the proposed system to improve the management of the network resources.