Abstract: As an application of Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET)in the transportation realm, Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) is a promising technology in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Since accurate node mobility model is important for simulation,we proposed a Synthetic Mobility Model (SMM) for modeling vehicles mobility pattern based on real city satellite map and real road conditions. SMM, Random Waypoint model and Manhattan model were compared by analysis and simulation experiments based on real Xi' an satellite map under QualNet. The result shows that mobility models make a great impact on the routing protocol performance and our SMM is much better to be used for VANET simulation.

Key words: Vehicular ad hoc networks, Mobility model, VANET simulation, Routing protocol