Adaptive rate control for vehicular networks

A system for adaptively controlling communication protocol parameters used by a node in a network comprising a plurality of nodes, the system comprising:

• at least one processor operable in a first node of the plurality of nodes to, at least:
• receive one or more first messages broadcast by corresponding other nodes of the plurality of nodes of the network;
• select, based on the received one or more first messages, one of the other nodes as a target node of a second message for transmission by the first node to the target node;
• determine whether the received one or more first messages contain communication protocol parameter information that enables transmission of the second message by the first node at a current geographic location, over the network, to the target node;
• transmit the second message to the target node using the communication protocol parameter information, if the received one or more first messages contain the communication protocol parameter information;
• send a certain number of probe messages of a first type to the target node, if the received one or more first messages do not contain the communication protocol parameter information;
• and
• adjust the communication protocol parameter information used by the first node to transmit messages over the network, based on acknowledgements received to probe messages sent of the first type.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a plurality of code sections, each code section comprising a plurality of instructions executable by at least one processor, the executable instructions causing the at least one processor to perform the steps of a method of adaptively controlling communication protocol parameters used by a first node in a network comprising a plurality of nodes, the steps of the method comprising:

• receiving, at the first node of the plurality of nodes, one or more first messages broadcast by corresponding other nodes of the plurality of nodes of the network;
• selecting, by the first node based on the received one or more first messages, one of the other nodes as a target node of a second message for transmission by the first node to the target node;
• determining whether the received one or more first messages contain communication protocol parameter information that enables transmission of the second message by the first node at a current geographic location, over the network, to the target node;
• transmitting the second message to the target node using the communication protocol parameter information, if the received one or more first messages contain the communication protocol parameter information;
• sending a certain number of probe messages of a first type to the target node, if the received one or more first messages do not contain the communication protocol parameter information;
• and
• adjusting the communication protocol parameter information used by the first node to transmit messages over the network, based on acknowledgements received to probe messages sent of the first type.