Broadcasting user content over novel mobile networks

In the "Youtube Era", mobile consumption of video, such as Video on Demand (VoD) and User Generated Content (UGC), has been steadily increasing. However, mobile networks are showing to be unprepared for such phenomenal traffic volume, whereas the devices\´ multiple interfaces are being exploited to address this problem. As such, the interest in offloading techniques has significantly increased, not only at access level, but also at IP layer - boosting solutions based on Distributed Mobility Management (DMM) technologies. Connectivity management taking into account different applications requirements and multiple interfaces calls for a cross-layer solution, where IEEE 802.21 Media Independent Handover (MIH) may take a crucial role. In this paper, we describe an architecture for the support of UGC over the upcoming mobile networks using DMM and IEEE 802.21 concepts. We develop two entities, the Connection Manager and Flow Manager, for managing the connections throughout all the mobility session for either video producers or consumers. We implemented a real testbed in which we collect throughput and packet loss statistics on usage scenarios. The provided results show how the Connection Manager can be used to automatically take advantage of multiple interfaces and how the Flow Manager can be used to trigger multicast context transfer, with added performance results.