Comparison studies of MANET-satellite and MANET-cellular networks integrations

A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a self-configuring infrastructure-less network. Taking advantage of spontaneous and infrastructure-less behavior, MANET can be integrated with satellite network to provide world-wide communication for emergency and disaster relieve services and can also be integrated with cellular network for mobile data offloading. To achieve different purposes, different architecture of integrated system, protocols and mechanisms are designed. For emergency services, ubiquitous and robust communications are of paramount importance. For mobile data offloading services, emphasis is amount of offloaded data, limited storage and energy of mobile devices. It is important to study the common features and distinguish of the architecture and service considerations for further research in the two integrated systems. In this paper, we study common issues and distinguish between two systems in terms of routing protocol, QoS provision, energy efficiency, privacy protection and resource management. The future research can benefit from taking advantage of the similarity of two systems and address the relevant issues.