MACACO: Mobile context-Adaptive CAching for COntent-centric networking

Finding new ways to manage the increased data usage and to improve the level of service required by the new wave of smartphones applications is an essential issue. The MACACO project proposes an innovative solution to this problem by focusing on data offloading mechanisms that take advantage of context and content information. Our intuition is that if it is possible to extract and forecast the behaviour of mobile network users in the three dimensional space of time, location and interest (i.e. 'what', 'when' and 'where' users are pulling data from the network), it is possible to derive efficient data offloading protocols. Such protocols would pre-fetch the identified data and cache them at the network edge at an earlier time, preferably when the mobile network is less congested, or offers better quality of service. Caching can be done directly at the mobile terminals, as well as at the edge nodes of the network (e.g., femtocells or wireless access points).

Building on previous research efforts in the fields of social wireless networking, opportunistic communications and content networking, MACACO will address several issues in this space. The first one is to derive appropriate models for the correlation between user interests and their mobility. Lots of studies have characterised mobile nodes mobility based on real world data traces, but knowledge about the interactions with user interests in this context is still missing. To fill this gap, MACACO proposes to acquire real world data sets to model mobile node behaviour in the aforementioned three-dimensional space. The second issue addressed is the derivation of efficient data-offloading algorithms leveraging the large-scale data traces and corresponding models. Firstly, simple and efficient prediction algorithms will be derived to forecast the node's mobility and interests. Then, MACACO will provide data pre-fetching mechanisms that both improves the perceived quality of service of the mobile user and
noticeably offloads peak bandwidth demands at the cellular network. A proof of concept will be exhibited though a federated testbed located in France, Switzerland and in the UK.

The MACACO project is totally aligned with the expected types of impact of the second topic of the CHIST-ERA 2012 call. If successful, MACACO will foster new "services enabling the emergence of innovative network technologies" by providing the required context- and content-aware models and protocols to manage the increased data usage required by the new wave of smartphones applications. By doing so, MACACO aims to reinforce the European scientific excellence in the mobile service provision and helping European carriers to offload their cellular traffic.

Additionally, by detecting and modelling the correlations between user mobility and the traffic demand he/she generates, MACACO aims to strengthen the research field of mobile networks and human behaviour prediction and "develop a deeper fundamental and comprehensive understanding of new enhanced communication network architectures". Moreover, by facilitating development of new context- and content-aware applications, the project expects to foster significant innovation for industry. Novel and improved services will also have a significant for final users, given the fundamental role played by mobile Internet nowadays. In fact, several companies (from small start-ups to corporations) can benefit from improved wireless broadband services and from innovative content delivery mechanisms.

As also required by the call goals, MACACO "brings together researchers and research communities working on distinct network layers and on content and context extraction in the broader framework of a content- and context-adaptive communication networks". As stated before, the consortium was carefully constituted to gather partners that are pretty complementary and qualified to address the context-content correlation and related data offloading challenge. This constitutes one of the strengths of the project, which could not be conducted with the participation of only one or few of the involved partners. Thus, in addition to the technological impact, MACACO will have a significant impact in terms of competence building. The partners will combine research and experience in a wide set of areas to gain unique competence, which will be brought forward to other European partners through the dissemination and exploitation activities of the consortium.