Cost-Effective Multi-Mode Offloading with peer-assisted communications

Data offloading through WiFi networks has been identified as a promising solution to cellular network congestion caused by the ongoing explosive growth in mobile data traffic. In this paper, we propose Cost-Effective Multi-Mode Offloading (CEMMO) that enhances offloading with multi-hop peer-assisted communications regardless of content and popularity. CEMMO enables three modes of communication: cellular delivery, delay-tolerant offloading, and peer-assisted offloading. Exploiting user knowledge on mobility and WiFi connectivity, CEMMO assists the cellular operator in selecting the best out of its three modes in order to reduce the overall cost in terms of financial settlement, energy consumption, and user satisfaction. Our simulations with a realistic mobility and connectivity prediction model based on a Markov process show that CEMMO offloads up to 59% of the mobile data traffic and reduces transfer cost per MB up to 16% over delay-tolerant offloading. This paper also discusses practical issues in CEMMO adoption.