Dissemination of Spatial-Temporal Information in Mobile Networks with Hotspots

In this paper we examine the dissemination of reports about resources in mobile networks with hotspots, where hotspots, vehicles and sensors communicate with each other via short-range wireless transmission. Each disseminated report represents information about a spatial-temporal event, such as the availability of a parking slot at a particular time or the detection of an injured in an earthquake damaged building. We propose an opportunistic dissemination paradigm, in which a moving object transmits the reports it carries to encountered peers and obtains new reports in exchange. We address two issues in such an environment. First, we develop an architecture that allows a moving object to receive resource reports opportunistically. Second, we study how the received reports are used by a consumer to reduce resource discovery time. The proposed system has the potential to create a completely new information marketplace.