Zhiwen Hu

Game theoretic approaches for wireless proactive caching

Recently proposed wireless proactive caching has opened up a promising avenue for reducing the redundant traffic load of the future wireless network. In addition to infrastructure updating, caching schemes for different wireless caching scenarios are also essential problems of concern. Along with the benefits brought by proactive caching, the cost of proactive caching should also be taken into account, since caching schemes can be influenced by different interest relevant parties in wireless networks. In this article, we discuss several typical caching scenarios and apply corresponding game theoretical models to illustrate how the selfishness of different parties may influence the overall wireless proactive caching. Efficient caching strategies can be designed by carefully considering the relations and interactions among these parties by using game theory. We also outline possible future research directions in this emerging area.

Caching as a Service: Small-Cell Caching Mechanism Design for Service Providers

Wireless network virtualization has been well recognized as a way to improve the flexibility of wireless networks by decoupling the functionality of the system and implementing infrastructure and spectrum as services. Recent studies have shown that caching provides a better performance to serve the content requests from mobile users. In this paper, we propose that caching can be applied as a service in mobile networks, i.e., different service providers (SPs) cache their contents in the storage of wireless facilities that are owned by mobile network operators. Specifically, we focus on the scenario of small-cell networks, where cache-enabled small-cell base stations are the facilities to cache contents. To deal with the competition for storage among multiple SPs, we design a mechanism based on multi-object auctions, where the time-dependent feature of system parameters and the frequency of content replacement are both taken into account. Simulation results show that our solution leads to a satisfactory outcome.

Poster: Roadside Unit Caching Mechanism for Multi-Service Providers

Roadside units (RSUs) with caching abilities are becoming an important part for the future transportation system, enabling both Internet accesses and local caching services for vehicular users. In this paper, we address the caching problem which involves the coexistence of multiple service providers who intend to cache their own contents into the RSUs by competitions to improve the data disseminations. And we propose a mechanism based on multi-object auctions, which can achieve a sub-optimal outcome. Simulation results also show the effectiveness of our solution.

Roadside Unit Caching: Auction-Based Storage Allocation for Multiple Content Providers

Recent improvements in vehicular ad hoc networks are accelerating the realization of intelligent transportation system (ITS), which not only provides road safety and driving efficiency, but also enables infotainment services. Since data dissemination plays an important part in ITS, recent studies have found caching as a promising way to promote the efficiency of data dissemination against rapid variation of network topology. In this paper, we focus on the scenario of roadside unit (RSU) caching, where multiple content providers (CPs) aim to improve the data dissemination of their own contents by utilizing the storages of RSUs. To deal with the competition among multiple CPs for limited caching facilities, we propose a multi-object auction-based solution, which is sub-optimal and efficient to be carried out. A caching-specific handoff decision mechanism is also adopted to take advantages of the overlap of RSUs. Simulation results show that our solution leads to a satisfactory outcome.