Table 3 Exchanged messages

\(M_{b}(Id_{v_{i}},\,(x_{i},y_{i}),\,vel_{v_{i}},\,d,\,ts)\)

This message is broadcast by the vehicle identified by \(Id_{v_{i}}\) to all its neighbors to notify them of its location \((x_{i},y_{i})\), its velocity \(vel_{v_{i}}\) and its direction d

ts is the timestamp associated with this message

\(M_{ack}(Id_{v_{j}},\,s_{v_{j}},\,ts)\)

The acknowledgment message is sent by a vehicle identified by \(Id_{v_{j}}\) to a vehicle \(v_{i}\) to notify it of its reputation score \(s_{v_{j}}\)

ts is the timestamp associated with this message

\(M_{GH}(GH_{id},\,G_{id},\,Members,\,ts)\)

The GH message is sent by a GH vehicle to all its group members to inform them of its identity \(GH_{id}\), the group identifier \(G_{id}\), and the set of members Members belonging to this group. ts is the timestamp associated with this message

\(M_{join}(Id_{v_{i}},\,GH_{id},\,ts)\)

The join message is broadcast by a member vehicle identified by \(Id_{v_{i}}\) to inform other members that it is going to join the cluster whose GH’s identifier is \(GH_{id}\). ts is the timestamp associated with this message

\(M_{Blacklist}(GH_{id},\,Id_{v_{i}},\,ts)\)

A Blacklist message is sent by the GH \(GH_{id}\) in order to inform the RSU that a vehicle identified by \(Id_{v_{i}}\) is acting maliciously. ts is the timestamp associated with this message

\(M_{warning}(Id_{v_{id}},\,s-flag,\,ts)\)

The warning message is sent by the RSU to GHs in order to inform them about a misbehaving s-flag = ‘B’ vehicle identified by \(Id_{v_{i}}\)

The same message can be send by the RSU to GHs in order to inform them about a rehabilitated s-flag = ‘H’ vehicle identified by \(Id_{v_{i}}\)

ts is the timestamp associated with this message

\(M_{event}(Id_{v_{i}},\,type,\,(x,y),\,l,\,t_{r})\)

An event message is sent by a vehicle identified by \(Id_{v_{i}}\) to its GH to report an observed event by indicating its type \(type\in \) {accident, road liberation, traffic information}, (x, y) the coordinates of the event’s location, l the location of the vehicle when it generated the message, and \(t_{r}\) the reporting time