MFW: Mobile femtocells utilizing WiFi: A data offloading framework for cellular networks using mobile femtocells

The ever growing data traffic generated by users in cellular networks is becoming more challenging and straining for cellular operators. Thus, developing efficient mechanisms that enable cellular operators to offload data traffic from their networks in a cost-effective manner is essential. To this end, we propose a generic framework (MFW) that exploits femtocells and WiFi networks. The framework allows cellular operators to offload part of the traffic load generated by mobile users in public transportation systems, viz.; buses, streetcars. Regular Femto Base Stations (FBSs) are installed in these vehicles to offer cellular coverage for mobile devices, called the mobile FBS (mobFBS). The mobFBS utilizes ubiquitous WiFi access points as a backhaul to route the traffic to the cellular operator's network through WiFi instead of the loaded macrocells. Mobile data users are categorized in our framework in different prioritized classes in order to efficiently allocate the mobFBS bandwidth to the maximum number of users. Efficiency is considered in terms of bandwidth utilization, enhancing capacity and managing grouped data traffic in vehicles. We elaborate on the performance of MFW via numerical experiments, emulating practical applications, viz. “Skype” and “YouTube”, and demonstrate the efficiency of our framework in terms of data traffic offloading.