Broadcasting in LTE-Advanced networks using multihop D2D communications

In an LTE-Advanced network, network-controlled Device-to-Device (D2D) communications can be combined in a multihop fashion to distribute broadcasts over user-defined (and possibly large) areas, with small latencies and occupying few resources. Such a service may be exploited for several purposes, (e.g. Internet of Things, Vehicular communications). Engineering a multihop D2D-based broadcast service requires working at both the application level on the User Equipment (UE) and at the resource-allocation level within the eNodeBs. This paper describes the necessary modifications at both the UE and the eNodeB, what the main issues are, and how to solve them efficiently. We evaluate the performance of the above service using system-level simulations, and demonstrate its advantages over standard broadcasting techniques.