An improved virtualization layer to support distribution of multimedia contents in pervasive social applications

Pervasive social computing is a new paradigm of computer science that aims to facilitate the realization of activities in whichever context, with the aid of information devices and considering social relations between users. This vision requires means to support the shared experiences by harnessing the communication and computing capabilities of the connected devices, relying on direct or hop-by-hop communications among people who happen to be close to each other. In this paper, we present an approach to turn mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) into stable communication environments for pervasive social applications. The proposal is based on an evolution of the VNLayer, a virtualization layer that defined procedures for mobile devices to collaboratively emulate an infrastructure of stationary virtual nodes. We refine the VNLayer procedures and introduce new ones to increase the reliability and the responsiveness of the virtual nodes, which serves to boost the performance of routing with a virtualized version of the well-known AODV algorithm. We prove the advantages of the resulting routing scheme by means of simulation experiments and measurements on a real deployment of an application for immersive and collective learning about History in museums and their surroundings.