Toward a lightweight and efficient UAV‐aided VANET

International audience; Connectivity in a smart vehicular network is quite sensitive and highly affected by its dynamic network topology. Issues related to the intermittent nature of connectivity may arise due to the high mobility of nodes and network heterogeneity. In sparse areas, a vehicular network is basically a disruption‐tolerant network suffering from frequent disconnections, long delays, and messages loss. Facing these issues, and specifically for time‐sensitive applications, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) can provide valuable assistance to Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET) by assuming a relay node role between disconnected segments in the road. In such scenarios, effective communica…