Efficient overlay mediation for mobile location-based services

Abstract

Data communication in mobile and cellular environments is still in its infancy. Data traffic generated by mobile users lacks the diversity of the fixed Internet. On the one hand, the limited bandwidth available for mobile users is still a major hurdle for some Internet applications. On the other hand, a universal inexpensive mobility solution built to support the different wireless architectures while offering service ubiquity is still missing. Despite this, some applications such as location-based services (LBS) have found a natural application domain by mobile users. Data traffic, in such applications, is generated by users accessing information linked to their movement context. To improve access to these services while limiting the effects of mobility, communication should occur near the edge, while staying localized. In this paper, a distributed approach is proposed for mediating location information between heterogeneous geographic information severs in a peer-to-peer manner. A design methodology is proposed to ensure the localized impact of mobility-lead communication overhead. Both numerical and simulative analyses are carried out.