Dynamic multi-user software downloads for terminal reconfiguration in 3G networks

A rich new area of research in mobile communications is terminal reconfiguration. An efficient way of performing multi-user over-the-air downloads would facilitate mass-upgrade reconfigurations by reducing the resulting download traffic in the system, thus ensuring better quality of service for all users and reducing download times. We are simulating efficient traffic management schemes for multi-user downloads over the fixed part of a 3G (all-IP) network. The paper introduces two of these schemes, concentrating on one in particular: switching among three one-to-many download methods n-times unicast, multicast and broadcast. The methodology for simulations of this scheme is given, and results are presented showing the relative performances and potential benefits of the switching policy.