Optimizing query access time over broadcast channel in a mobile computing environment

Abstract

Broadcast strategy is known as an effective mechanism to disseminate database information to mobile clients. However, with a very large database items, the access time of mobile client increases accordingly due to high waiting time to find their data of interest. In this paper, we propose analytical models for both query access times over broadcast channel and on-demand channel. We examine the analytical model to find optimum number of broadcast items in a channel while utilising query access time over on-demand channel as a threshold point. The optimum number indicates a point to split the broadcast cycle and allocate the data items in the new channel. Several factors are taken into account, which includes request arrival rate, service rate, number of request, size of data item, size of request, number of data item to retrieve, and bandwidth. A simulation model is developed to find out the performance of the analytical model, and it is found the model is close to accurate. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004.