The Internet Education and Research Laboratory (intERLab) envisions R&D efforts towards Vehicular Cloud Services (VCS) to answer the challenges in future vehicles that are connected via Vehicle-to-Any (V2X) communications. V2X connected vehicular applications have the potential to utilize data store, exchange or transfer services among the vehicles. These data may include traffic information, news, and commercial medias. Vehicular cloud services are made of distributed computing and networking resources among the participating vehicles.
In our previous CarTalk-as-a-Service research, our research team successfully developed and demonstrated a V2X communication service prototype that collectively operates on small resource-limited mobile routers that can be attached to vehicles. However, there is a strong need to develop a more powerful platform that can facilitate the development and deployment of more various V2X Web Applications as a Service (V2X WaaS). Such a V2X Application Service platform should have some fundamental capabilities to form vehicular cloud and enable the development of more advanced vehicular cloud applications in a near future.
We research and develop a prototype of the Common V2X Application & Service Platform that is capable to work with at least two networking technologies, namely VANET (Vehicular Ad hoc Network) and V2I-I2V cellular networks (3G/4G). The Common V2X Application & Service Platform will also possess some basic Vehicular Cloud capabilities. Examples include the ability to store-carry-forward information pieces and the ability to perform collective data retrieval among participating vehicles and nearby V2X communication ‘infrastructure’ (e.g. traffic signal poles). Along side with the platform, we also develop an example of the V2X Public Road Hazard Warning Application Service that can be deployed and controlled by a local traffic authority. Either the traffic authority or the drivers can have the ability to report and pinpoint road hazards that exist in the nearby driving area. The information about road hazards as created by the local traffic authority or as reported by the drivers will be propagated through V2X communication APIs and used to inform other drivers within range.