International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 8887) Volume 104 - No. 12, October 2014 Simulating Traffic Lights Control using Wireless Sensor Networks Abdulmomen Kadhim Khlaif Computer Engineering Department University of Technology, Iraq Muayad Sadik Croock, Ph.D Computer Engineering Department University of Technology, Iraq Shaimaa Hameed Shaker, Ph.D Computer Engineering Department University of Technology, Iraq ABSTRACT Wireless (magnetic) sensor networks offer a very attractive al- ternative to inductive loops for vehicular traffic control on free- ways and at intersections in terms of cost, ease of deploy- ment and maintenance, and enhanced measurement capabili- ties. In this work, we propose and simulate a simple and eco- nomic wireless sensor network architecture composed of only a single sensor node per lane, as a replacement to induc- tion loops to be used in intelligent transportation systems. The results show that our work enhances the average vehicular waiting and travel times as compared with fixed-time signals, which produces significant change by a factor of almost 40%. General Terms: traffic lights, sensor network Keywords: Vehicular traffic control, Wireless sensor networks, Simuation, Omnetpp, Sumo 1. INTRODUCTION Traffic signals (or can be called as traffic lights, traffic control sig- nals) control traffic by assigning right-of-way to one traffic move- ment or several non-conflicting traffic movements at a time. Right- of-way is assigned by turning on a green signal for a certain length of time or an interval. Right-of-way is ended by a yellow change interval during which a yellow signal is displayed, followed by the display of a red signal. The objective of traffic signal timing is to assign the right-of-way to alternating traffic movements in such a manner to minimize the average delay to any group of vehicles or pedestrians and reduce the probability of accident producing conflicts. Some of the guiding standards to signal timing can be listed as follows [1]: —Minimize the number of phases that are used. Each additional phase increases the amount of lost time due to starting delays and clearance intervals. —Short cycle lengths typically yield the best performance in terms of providing the lowest overall average delay, provided the ca- pacity of the cycle to pass vehicles is not exceeded. The cycle length, however, must allow adequate time for vehicular and pedestrian movements. —When signals are coordinated with adjacent intersections, they can provide for the continuous movement of traffic along a route at a given speed. —May reduce the occurrence of certain types of crashes, in partic- ular, the right angle and pedestrian types. Due to the computational complexity of traffic signals, a new jargon has evolved to help signal professionals communicate efficiently. These definitions are intended to make clear exposition in this arti- cle as possible as to the reader [2]. —Traffic signal: Any power-operated device for warning or con- trolling traffic, except flashers, signs, and markings. —Approach: The roadway section adjacent to an intersection that allows cars access to the intersection. An approach may serve several movements. —Right-of-way: The authority for a particular vehicle to complete its manoeuvre through the intersection. Intelligent transport systems (ITS), as been defined by [3] “are ad- vanced applications which without embodying intelligence as such aim to provide innovative services relating to different modes of transport and traffic management and enable various users to be better informed and make safer, more coordinated and ‘smarter’ use of transport networks.” Wireless sensor networks consist of small sensor node devices that communicate with each other to perform the required task. Because of their constrained and compact shape, sensor nodes tends to have unique challenges and constraints. These constraints effect the de- sign of a wireless sensor network, leading to protocols and algo- rithms that are different from their counterparts in other types of systems (e.g., distributed systems) [4]. In this paper, the proposed system offers an efficient solution for the traffic controls in terms of simple and economic ways in using wireless sensor network. This is performed by distributing wireless magnetic sensor along the right side of the included paths (lanes) crossed at the underlying intersection. The collected readings of the sensors are entered to the traffic control for processing and decision making. The investigated system has been implemented using Simulation of Urban MOblity (SUMO) [5] alongside with OMNeT++ [6] simulators to accentuate the features of mixing ve- hicular and network simulation. The obtained results explain good performance of the proposed system in comparison with the con- ventional methods (fixed-time traffic signals). The following sections of the paper are organized as follows: sec- tion 2 reviews the work that is related to traffic lights control us- 1