Efficient Location-Based Decision-Supporting Content Distribution to Mobile Groups

This paper deals with efficient location-based decision-supporting content distribution to mobile groups. We consider the case where a set of information dissemination devices (IDDs) broadcast a limited amount of location-based information to passing mobile nodes that are moving along well-defined paths. We develop a novel model that captures the main aspects of the problem and define a new optimization problem we call Maximum Benefit Message Assignment Problem (MBMAP). We study several variants of this problem in the case where the IDDs are cooperative and in the case where they are not. We develop new approximation algorithms for these variants and then focus on the practical effects of using them in realistic networking scenarios.