Simulation framework for connected vehicles: a scoping review

Background: V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle) is a booming research field with a diverse set of services and applications. Most researchers rely on vehicular simulation tools to model traffic and road conditions and evaluate the performance of network protocols. We conducted a scoping review to consider simulators that have been reported in the literature based on successful implementation of V2V systems, tutorials, documentation, examples, and/or discussion groups. Methods: Simulators that have limited information were not included. The selected simulators are described individually and compared based on their requirements and features, i.e., origin, traffic model, scalability, and traffic features. This scoping review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The review considered only research published in English (in journals and conference papers) completed after 2015. Further, three reviewers initiated the data extraction phase to retrieve information from the published papers. Results: Most simulators can simulate system behaviour by modelling the events according to pre-defined scenarios. However, the main challenge faced is integrating the three components to simulate a road environment in either microscopic, macroscopic or mesoscopic models. These components include mobility generators, VANET simulators and network simulators. These simulators require the integration and synchronisation of the transportation domain and the communication domain. Simulation modelling can be run using a different types of simulators that are cost-effective and scalable for evaluating the performance of V2V systems in urban environments. In addition, we also considered the ability of the vehicular simulation tools to support wireless sensors. Conclusions: The outcome of this study may reduce the time required for other researchers to work on other applications involving V2V systems and as a reference for the study and development of new traffic simulators.