  This paper describes the design and evaluation of a Substrate Integrated
Waveguide (SIW) antenna operating at 2.4 GHz. This antenna was designed as a
possible solution for the implementation of the vehicular networks (VANETs).
The main advantages of the SIW antennas, such as their simplicity, small size
and low cost, make this kind of antennas particularly suitable for using in
wireless nodes where the size is a critical factor. For example, in Vehicular
Networks (VANETs) which is one of the most promising wireless communication
systems. We present in this paper the design of the SIW antenna using the
software ANSYS HFSS as well as the results of the assessment of some parameters
like the radiation pattern, operation frequency and bandwidth. Also, we present
the simulation of a VANET that include the designed parameters of the SIW
antenna in order to evaluate its integration into the vehicular nodes. This
simulation was performed in the NS2 simulator and some network performance
metrics, like packet delay and the packet loss rate, were evaluated. Other
additional software, for example MOVE and SUMO, were also used to generate the
routes and the movement of the vehicles
