Cellular Controlled Short-Range Communication for Cooperative P2P Networking

— This article advocates a novel communication architecture and associated collaborative framework for future wireless communication systems. In contrast to the dominating cellular architecture and the upcoming peer-to-peer architecture, the new form envisions a cellular controlled short-range communication network among cooperating mobile and wireless terminals. The novel architecture together with several possible cooperative strategies will bring clear benefits for the network and service providers, terminal manufacturers as well as the end users. I. INTRODUCTION Currently the cellular communication scene is dominated by the transition from the second (2G) to the third generation (3G). Some of the key problems of those communication systems include the limited achievable data rate over the air interface and the lack of new and appealing services motivating the customers to shift their 2G mobile devices to 3G ones. While designing the architecture of future wireless networks, i.e., 4G, another challenge becomes evident: the ever increasing power consumption of the mobile device. By cramming terminals with a large number of " placebo " functionalities and capabilities like advanced imaging features (camera, high-definition display, etc.) as well as versatile and high-performance wireless connectivity including short-range communication (Bluetooth, WLAN, etc.), and higher data rates over the cellular interface, manufacturers face a serious problem: A dramatic and critical increase of power consumption of the mobile device. This has two major impacts: first, the absolute power consumption could make active cooling of the mobile device necessary, and secondly, the active usage time decreases, as the developments in battery capacity and efficiency cannot cope with the steep power consumption increase. The operative time of mobile devices has been identified as the number one criteria to purchase a mobile device. Thus, a solution has to be found aiming at decoupling the problem of increasingly more complex mobile devices on one hand, and the need for supporting higher data rates (which is the enabler for new services). In this contribution we advocate a novel paradigm which tightly and dynamically combines centralized networks