Cross-Layer Resource Allocation for Efficient Message Dissemination in Rural Infostation Systems

In this paper, we consider a rural infostation system where power and bandwidth limited infostations are deployed in a large network area with sparsely populated mobile nodes. Direct transmission services are provided to each mobile node, whereas message dissemination services facilitated by relaying are provided to a subgroup of mobile nodes. We investigate radio resource allocation at infostations, and propose a cross-layer resource allocation scheme with tuneable resource allocation parameters at the network layer and link layer. Analytical models are established to characterize the dependence of system performance on the various parameters of the proposed scheme, and the accuracy is verified by simulations. A cross-layer design example is presented to demonstrate that, by tuning resource allocation parameters at the protocol layers, the performance of direct transmission services can be guaranteed for relay nodes, and the quality of message dissemination services can be improved.