Quantify Self-Organized Storage Capacity in Supporting Infrastructure-less Transportation Operation

This paper introduces an architecture for supporting transportation operation in an ad hoc way using the technologies of mobile sensing, computing and communication. The architecture utilizes the self-organized storage capacity formed at the intersections in metropolitan areas to deliver cyber traffic control signals to passing vehicles. It is built on top of the communication network in the forms of VANET and VDTN to support distributed computing using traffic data collected by mobile devices. The paper presents the key network components. The major challenge is the unique interdependence between the coordinated traffic signals and the persistence of the self-organized storage, an issue not being tackled in early work. The key impact factor is the pattern of the coordinated traffic signals. As a work-in-progress, the paper will present preliminary results in identifying the interdependence and its impact on the capacity of the self-organized storage. These results will lead to understandings on the sustainability of the architecture.