NeTS: Small: Leveraging Opportunistic Pushing for CDNs and Mobile Devices

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A vibrant and healthy wireless network edge is essential to the modern economy. New technologies such as the Internet of Things, self-driving vehicles, and a host of new automation technologies rely on robust, high-speed wireless technology for operation. Unfortunately, the demand for wireless connectivity has far outstripped the amount of wireless spectrum available. Using more spectrum and improving spectral efficiency are some longer-term solutions. A more immediate approach is to explore how to flatten the demand curve - reducing peak demands through aggressive time shifting and content caching. The focus of this research is to explore how the free storage space that sits unused on mobile devices can be leveraged by content providers and network operators to radically improve wireless performance. In short, the research seeks to push data during idle network times to avoid overloads during peak times. Whether it is a crowded sporting event or a crowded subway station, the intended result of the work is mobile devices that download data more quickly while operating with longer battery lifetimes. The work seeks to make wireless network performance in crowded venues remarkably better.In this work, free space on mobile devices is made securely writable by trusted content providers and network operators, effectively allowing the network operator to push content dynamically to a device. The mechanisms and trade-offs that occur in large scale wireless systems (WiFi, cellular) present numerous challenges with respect to how and when to push content to the devices such that there is a net gain to overall wireless network system health. The work proposes to develop the architecture which seeks to allow devices in tandem with the network to sense redundant content. Mobile devices and the network operator constantly monitor and detect redundancy, triggering thresholds by which redundant content is efficiently pushed appropriately in the network through D2D (device to device) sharing and targeted broadcasts. Content is pre-staged during network idle periods or high bandwidth opportunities to time shift, improving the perceived Quality of Experience of the user in both responsiveness and efficiency. The project will develop prototype apps, create a Software Development Kit for Android and iOS, and conduct robust evaluations in demanding, dense environments.