Peer-assisted video-on-demand in multi-channel switching WiFi-based mobile networks

Network convergence paradigm will substantially increase the pervasive use of WiFi-enabled smart mobile devices. Although various on-demand streaming services are already available over mobile WiFi-enabled devices, it remains a challenging problem due to WiFi´s limited communication range, mobility and user population density issues. In this paper, we enhance our previous work on MOVi (Mobile Opportunistic Video-on-demand) by exploiting the use of multi-channel switching capability at mobile terminals. We reinvestigate the previous version of MOVi in this environment and propose an improved scheduling algorithm which incorporates collaborative congestion sensing and efficient channel allocation mechanisms. The scalability of the extended MOVi system is verified by extensive simulations. In terms of the number of supported user, an average of 25% improvement can be achieved. In addition, the proposed extension of MOVi provides more tolerance against increased volume of non-MOVi traffic.