Multihop cooperative content distribution over wireless networks with energy efficiency

Abstract

Energy minimization during cooperative content distribution is investigated in the framework of multihop wireless networks. Mobile terminals cooperate to receive content of common interest from the base station and distribute it using multihop cooperative techniques. The problem is formulated as an integer linear program depending on the maximum number of hops allowed. An efficient suboptimal content distribution scheme is presented and investigated in the two extreme scenarios: the case where the maximum number of hops is allowed and the case where only a single hop is permitted. The latter case corresponds to a clustering problem where mobile terminals are grouped into cooperating clusters, each headed by a cluster head in charge of the communication with the base station. The two methods are shown to lead to significant energy savings compared to the non-cooperative scenario. In addition, they are shown to reduce the total delay in the content distribution process.