IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN is proliferating since the increased trend in the wireless network utilization on mobile devices. Accuracy, fast content delivery, and reliable mobility support are essential features of any network to support the changing trend in a wireless network. However, traditional architectures in wireless LAN (WLANs or WiFi) always endured from challenges such as the provision of consistent mobility, real-time packet flow, and seamless handoff. Generally, most of the WLAN only relies on signal strength for handoff which is not sufficient enough for fair selection of an access point (AP) and therefore causes imperfect performance of the network. We present a novel mobility management scheme for WLANs to deal with the mobility management issues, and load balancing by software-defined network (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) technologies. The proposed scheme is based on logical AP ( L AP) that keeps a connection with the user/mobile terminal (MT) during handoff triggered by either the user or the SDN controller for seamless mobility. It also involves the current state of each AP in addition to traditional parameters of WLAN. We implemented the proposed scheme on a real testbed in a WLAN environment. The evaluation results authenticate that our proposed scheme provides robust handover without throughput degradation and load imbalance among adjacent APs, and allocates the best AP in the neighboring region. Moreover, our proposed scheme is feasible to implement since it did not require any modification at the mobile terminal.

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Mobile applications and social networks tend to enhance the needs for high‐quality content access. To address the expeditious growing demand for data services in 5G cellular networks, it is important to develop distribution techniques and an efficient content caching, aiming to significantly reduce redundant data transmission and, thus, improve the efficiency of the networks. In modern communication systems, caching has emerged as a vital tool for reducing peak data rates. It is anticipated that energy harvesting and self‐powered small base stations are the fundamental part of next‐generation cellular networks. However, uncertainties in energy are the main reason to adopt energy efficient power control schemes to reduce SBS energy consumption and ensure the quality of services for users. Using the edge cooperative caching such as energy efficient design can also be achievable, which reduces the usage of the capacity limited SBSs backhaul and the energy consumption. To support the huge power demand of cellular network, renewable energy harvesting technologies can be leveraged. In addition to this, power supply to the infrastructures is the main challenge to the mobile network operators (MNOs) especially in terms of economic optimum, sustainability, and green energy in developing countries for the growth of cellular networks. Renewable energy–based solutions for MNOs not only reduce the overall carbon dioxide emissions but also provide numerous profits.

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