Cooperative download in urban vehicular networks

We target urban scenarios where vehicular users can download large files from road-side access points (APs), and define a framework to exploit opportunistic encounters between mobile nodes to increase their transfer rate. We first devise a technique for APs deployment, based on vehicular traffic flows analysis, which fosters cooperative download. Then, we propose and evaluate different algorithms for carriers selection and chunk scheduling in carry&forward data transfers. Results obtained under realistic road topology and vehicular mobility conditions show that coupling our APs deployment scheme with probabilistic carriers selection and redundant chunk scheduling yields a worst-case 2x gain in the average download rate with respect to direct download, as well as a 10x reduction in the rate of undelivered chunks with respect to a blind carry&forward.