A review of routing protocols in internet of vehicles and their challenges

Purpose This paper is a review of a number routing protocols in the internet of vehicles (IoV). IoV emphasizes information interaction among humans, vehicles and a roadside unit (RSU), within which routing is one of the most important steps in IoV network. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors have summarized different research data on routing protocols in the IoV. Several routing protocols for IoV have been proposed in the literature. Their classification is made according to some criteria such as topology-based, position-based, transmission strategy and network structure. This paper focuses on the transmission strategy criteria. There exist three types of protocols that are based on this strategy: unicast protocol, broadcast protocols and multicast protocols. This later type is classified into two subclasses: geocast and cluster-based protocols. The taxonomy of the transmission strategy is presented in this study. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each type with a general comparison between the five types. Findings The authors can deduce that many challenges are encountered when designing routing protocols for IoV. Originality/value A simple and well-explained presentation of the functioning of the IoV is provided with a comparison among each categories of protocols is well presented along with the advantages and disadvantages of each type. The authors examined the main problems encountered during the design of IoV routing protocol, such as the quick change of topology, the frequent disconnection, the big volume of data to be processed and stored in the IoV, and the problem of network fragmentation. This work explores, compares existing routing protocols in IoV and provides a critical analysis. For that, the authors extract the challenges and propose future perspectives for each categories of protocols.