Vanetza

Vanetza is a popular open-source choice for building C-ITS stations adhering to the ETSI ITS specifications. It has its roots in academia but has meanwhile found its way into commercial offerings as well. Since 2024, nfiniity GmbH has been proudly sponsoring the ongoing development of Vanetza, leading its development and maintenance.

Considering the ETSI C-ITS protocols, Vanetza comprises compliant implementations of

• GeoNetworking (GN) for packet forwarding across an ITS network
• Basic Transport Protocol (BTP) multiplexing network connections through port numbers
• Decentralized Congestion Control (DCC) for managing radio channel resources
• Security to create trust among ITS stations through cryptographically secured messages
• and various Facilities such as support for messages like CAM, DENM, CPM, SPATEM, MAPEM, etc.

Vanetza is primarily a C++ library, i.e. it gives you the necessary building blocks for a C-ITS station, but you need to put them together for your particular system. There is a demo executable called socktap which is a stripped-down C-ITS station show-casing how to assemble these building blocks. It is perfectly fine to use socktap as your starting point for your ITS adventure, but be aware that its applications are simplified for educatioal purposes.

The cube:evk ships with a pre-built version of Vanetza and its socktap so you can get started easily. Of course, you can build your own – possibly extended – version of Vanetza for your cube anytime! The RPC mechanism offered by cube:radio and Vanetza sits you in the driver's seat quickly, so fasten your seat belt!