SYNER-VANET: A Cooperative Framework for Greener 6G Vehicular Networks

Abstract

6G is about to change everything for Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs). Imagine cars working together in real time, sharing massive amounts of data, and even offering seriously immersive experiences on the road. Sounds great, right? But there’s a problem. This entire new tech eats up way more energy—enough to threaten any hopes for green, sustainable transportation. Right now, most energy-saving tricks either focus on grouping cars into smart clusters or on telling devices when to nap, but hardly anyone tries to do both at the same time. That’s where our work steps in. We built SYNER-VANET, a new framework that finally merges these two worlds. Our system connects a smart, energy-aware clustering method with an adaptive sleep scheduler. Here’s how it works: our clustering picks leaders based on who has the most battery, who’s driving smoothly, and where they are in the network. With that sorted, our sleep scheduler safely puts other cars into short naps, only waking them up when they’re actually needed. We didn’t just sketch out the idea and call it a day. We threw SYNER-VANET into some tough, realistic simulations, and the results were clear. Our framework boosts network lifetime by 30 to 60%, and cuts energy use by up to 40% compared to the usual methods. Even better, it keeps performance high—packet delivery rates stay above 95%, and critical safety messages get through in fewer than 50 milliseconds. Bottom line: SYNER-VANET shows there’s a real way forward to make these networks sustainable, right from the start.