Cooperative cache management in mobile ad hoc networks

Abstract

Caching of frequently accessed data in ad hoc networks is a potential technique that can improve the data access performance and availability. Cooperative caching, which allows the sharing and coordination of cached data among clients, can further explore the potential of the caching techniques. In this paper, we propose a novel scheme, called zone cooperative (ZC) for caching in mobile ad hoc networks. In ZC scheme, one-hop neighbors of a mobile client form a cooperative cache zone since the cost for communication with them is low both in terms of energy consumption and message exchange. For a data miss in the local cache, each client first searches the data in its zone before forwarding the request to the next client that lies along routing path towards server. As a part of cache management, cache admission control and replacement policy are developed to improve the data accessibility and reduce the local cache miss ratio. Simulation experiments show that the ZC caching mechanism achieves significant improvements in terms of cache hit ratio and average query latency in comparison with other caching strategies.