Design and implementation of the travelling time- and energy-efficient Android GPS navigation app with the VANET-based a* route planning algorithm

This paper has three major contributions. First, a vehicular ad-hoc network (VANET)-based A* (VBA*) route planning algorithm is proposed to calculate the route with the shortest travelling time or the least oil consumption, depending on two real-time traffic information sources. The first one is the recorded traffic information of the road segment that the vehicle has passed through. This traffic information is further exchanged between vehicles when they enter the transmission range of IEEE 802.11p wireless link in the VANET. The second one is the traffic information provided by Google Maps. Then, a GPS navigation app is implemented on the Android platform to realize the VBA* route planning algorithm. Finally, simulations for six route planning algorithms are executed by the well-known VANET simulator, i.e., The ONE. In summary, VBA* achieves significant reductions on both the average travelling time and oil consumption of the planned route, as compared to traditional route planning algorithms.