Mode Selection for Mobile Opportunistic Multi-Hop Cellular Networks

Multi-hop Cellular Networks using Mobile Relays (MCN-MRs) are being investigated to help address certain limitations of traditional single-hop cellular communications. The MCN-MR benefits depend on the probability to find adequate mobile relays, and on the design of mode selection schemes capable to identify the optimum connection mode. The probability to find adequate mobile relays can be significantly enhanced for delay tolerant services through the adoption of mobile opportunistic networking that exploits the store, carry and forward paradigm. In this context, this paper proposes and evaluates the first mode selection scheme that integrates opportunistic networking into MCN-MR. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed scheme helps achieve the expected QoS and energy benefits that opportunistic networking can bring to multi-hop cellular networks.