ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). It includes VANET characteristics and similarities, and the differences between VANETs and mobile ad hoc networks. The chapter reviews VANET standards, heterogeneous VANETs, a variety of studies focuses on different broadcasting methods, and also associates issues with data dissemination in vehicular networks and vehicular mobility models. It describes the diverse applications of VANETs and the requirements of these applications. The most significant group of the VANET applications, the active safety applications, are aimed at decreasing the number of fatalities or injuries in road accidents. The safety applications are aimed at improving public safety and protecting individuals against events that may cause loss of life. The convenience and efficiency of the driver are improved by the non-safety applications. Unlike the safety and non-safety applications, commercial applications are heavily dependent on unicast communications. There are some services that are provided by commercial applications such as advertisement, web access, and entertainment.
