K. Pentikousis et al. (Eds.): MONAMI 2011, LNICST 97, pp. 201–216, 2012. © Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering 2012 Opportunistic Network Creation Schemes for Capacity Extension in Wireless Access and Backhaul Segments Marios Logothetis 1 , Vera Stavroulaki 1 , Andreas Georgakopoulos 1 , Dimitrios Karvounas 1 , Nikos Koutsouris 1 , Kostas Tsagkaris 1 , Panagiotis Demestichas 1 , Milenko Tosic 2 , and Dragan Boskovic 2 1 Department of Digital Systems, University of Piraeus, Greece {mlogothe}@unipi.gr 2 La Citadelle Inzenjering, Novi Sad, Serbia {milenko.tosic}@lacitadelleing.com Abstract. It is expected that the wireless world will migrate towards an era that will comprise more local/temporary structures which, for instance, can be called Opportunistic Networks (ONs). Operator-governed ONs are dynamically created, temporary, coordinated extensions of the infrastructure. This paper presents an approach for exploiting such ONs in order to extend the capacity in wireless access and backhaul segments for efficient application provisioning, as well as an evaluation of an indicative test case as a proof of concept of the aforementioned approach. Keywords: Opportunistic Networks, Functional Architecture, Cognitive Management Systems, Future Internet. 1 Introduction The vision of Future Internet (FI) seems to drive the research in many aspects of today’s Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) [1]. One of the great promises that FI needs to fulfill so as to live up to its potential, is the efficient provisioning of emerging and new applications, through a wide range of Internet- enabled devices. New applications, services and content will require a truly ubiquitous network capacity [2] capable of handling the amplified data traffic volumes transmitted by internet enabled devices. Such an increasingly demanding landscape motivates the quest for technological solutions that will offer improved efficiency in resource provisioning and provide users with high quality services anywhere, anytime. Efficiency can be generally coupled with targets like: (i) the higher utilization of resources, (ii) the reduction of transmission powers and energy consumption (in general, having decisions with a “green” footprint) or (iii) the reduction of the total cost of ownership, which is assumed here to comprise the operational expenditures (OPEX), capital expenditures (CAPEX), and costs associated with the management of customer relations.