Is SDN the Solution for NDN-VANETs?

Named Data Networking (NDN) is a future Internet architecture suitable for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs), since it provides solutions to frequent topology changes in VANETs. In NDN messages are exchanged according to their content and not to the location of the hosts. SDN provides centralized network control. This paper presents use cases for vehicular NDN scenarios, where SDN is a suitable solution to solve arising problems in VANETs. In particular, SDN assists for setting up rules that are used by RSUs to dictate to the vehicles how to perform forwarding in the VANET. Moreover, SDN could optimize the allocation of network resources. Finally, we present a network communication approach between different geographical areas using wired communication between SDN controllers or wireless communication in vehicles that are used as data mules in these areas. The areas are defined based on the communication range of RSUs.