Short paper: Dynamic online storage allocation for multi-content dissemination in two-tier hybrid mobile vehicular networks

We present a two-tier hybrid mobile network architecture. In this architecture, the data plane consists of store and forward routing through an intermittently connected mobile network, and the control plane consists of an always-on infrastructure-based wireless network. This architecture aims to enhance bandwidth utilization while providing efficient centralized control. For such an architecture, we formulate and address, from a theoretical perspective, the fundamental problem of disseminating multiple files through storage limited nodes. Given a deadline, we investigate how best to utilize the intermediate nodes (called helper nodes) to disseminate content with the help of the control plane. We examine the formulated optimal policy through theoretical and numerical analysis. The analysis shows interesting counter intuitive facts about the optimal policy.