Content- and Context-Aware Opportunistic Cellular Communications in Device-Centric Wireless Networks

Device-centric wireless networks, including Deviceto- Device communications and Multi-hop Cellular Networks, are expected to be a relevant component of future 5G wireless networks. Traditionally, opportunistic networking has been proposed for disconnected networks that cannot always reliably ensure real-time end-to-end connections. However, previous studies have demonstrated that opportunistic schemes can also be utilized in connected networks to improve their efficiency by intelligently exploiting context- and content-awareness. In this context, this paper proposes and evaluates a mechanism to select the adequate configuration of opportunistic cellular communications in single-hop and multi-hop cellular networks. To this aim, the mechanism probabilistically identifies for each communications mode the adequate times for cellular transmissions to take place in order to reduce the cellular channel occupancy and improve its capacity. The obtained results show that the proposed scheme reduces the channel occupancy of cellular transmissions for delay-tolerant information by up to 70% compared to conventional single-hop cellular communication

Next Generation Opportunistic Networking in Beyond 5G Networks

Beyond 5G networks are expected to support massive traffic through decentralized solutions and advanced networking mechanisms. This paper aims at contributing towards this vision through the integration of device-centric wireless networks, including Device-to-Device (D2D) communications, and the Next Generation of Opportunistic networking (NGO). This integration offers multiple communication modes such as opportunistic cellular and opportunistic D2D-aided communications. Previous studies have demonstrated the potential and benefits of this integration in terms of energy efficiency, spectral efficiency and traffic offloading. We propose an integration of device-centric wireless networks and NGO that is not driven by a precise knowledge of the presence of the links. The proposed technique utilizes a novel concept of graph to model the evolution of the networking conditions and network connectivity. Uncertainties and future conditions are included in the proposed graph model through anticipatory mobile networking to estimate the transmission energy cost of the different communication modes. Based on these estimates, the devices schedule their transmissions using the most efficient communication mode. These decisions are later revisited in real-time using more precise knowledge about the network state. The conducted evaluation shows that the proposed technique significantly reduces the energy consumption (from 60% to 90% depending on the scenario) compared to traditional single-hop cellular communications and performs closely to an ideal “oracle based” system with full knowledge of present and future events. The transmission and computational overheads of the proposed technique show small impact on such energy gains.This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, AEI, and FEDER funds (TEC2017-88612-R)the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (IJC2018-036862-I)the UMH (‘Ayudas a la Investigación e Innovación de la Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche 2018’)and by the European Commission under the H2020 REPLICATE (691735), SoBigData (654024) and AUTOWARE (723909) project

Context-Aware Opportunistic Networking in Multi-Hop Cellular Networks

5G networks will be required to efficiently support the growth in mobile data traffic. One approach to do so is by exploiting Device-to-Device (D2D) communications and Multi-Hop Cellular Networks (MCNs) in order to enhance the spectrum re-use and offload traffic over underlay networks. This study proposes to further improve the efficiency of transmitting mobile data traffic by integrating opportunistic networking principles into MCNs. Opportunistic networking can exploit the delay tolerance characteristic of relevant data traffic services in order to search for the most efficient transmission conditions in MCNs. The study first presents an analytical framework for two-hop opportunistic MCNs designed to identify their optimum configuration in terms of energy efficiency. Using this reference configuration, the paper then proposes a set of opportunistic forwarding policies that exploit context information provided by the cellular network. Numerical and simulation results demonstrate that opportunistic networking can significantly contribute towards achieving the capacity and energy efficiency gains sought for 5G networks. Under the evaluated conditions, the obtained results show that the proposed schemes can reduce the energy consumption compared to traditional cellular communications by up to 98% for delay tolerant services. In addition, the proposed schemes can increase the cellular capacity by up to 79% compared to traditional cellular communications.The work of B. Coll-Perales and J. Gozalvez has been partly funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and FEDER funds under the projects TEC2014-57146-R, TEC2014-56469-REDT, and TEC2011-26109and by the Generalitat Valenciana under research grants ACIF/2010/161 and BEFPI/2012/065The work of V. Friderikos has been partly funded by the FP7 ITN CROSSFIRE projec