ICAM: Integrated Cellular and Ad-Hoc Multicast

In third generation (3G) wireless data networks, multicast throughput decreases with the increase in multicast group size, since a conservative strategy for the base station is to use the lowest data rate of all the receivers so that the receiver with the worst downlink channel condition can decode the transmission correctly. This paper proposes ICAM, Integrated Cellular and Ad-Hoc Multicast, to increase 3G multicast throughput through opportunistic use of ad-hoc relays. In ICAM, 3G base station delivers packets to proxy mobile devices with better 3G channel quality. The proxy then forwards the packets to the receivers through an IEEE 802.11-based ad-hoc network.