Digital transformation in wireless networks: A comprehensive analysis of mobile data offloading techniques, challenges, and future prospects

Mobile data offloading is a highly promising approach in mobile networks that tackles network congestion at Base Stations (BSs) and greatly improves both the Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) for users. It presents significant business opportunities for operators, particularly in light of the exponential growth in mobile data traffic and the ongoing digital transformation. To effectively uphold the desired levels of QoS and QoE in the elevation of escalating digitalization and the unprecedented surge in data traffic, this paper presents offloading through a diverse range of technologies such as data offloading through Small Cell Networks (SCNs), Wi-Fi offloading, Device-to-Device (D2D) offloading, and data offloading through Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs). The SCNs and Wi-Fi offloading involve migrating data traffic to the alternative infrastructure i.e. the small BS and the Wi-Fi Access Points (AP), respectively while D2D focuses on transferring data through the device without transversing the BSs. VANETs is the process of offloading data in vehicular scenarios that consist of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X). Additionally, mobile data offloading from cellular BS is categorized into four main factors: energy consumption or energy awareness, economic considerations, user satisfaction, and network congestion. These factors play a crucial role in the ongoing adoption and implementation of mobile data offloading strategies. Different technologies utilize diverse techniques to tackle the challenge of offloading, aligning with their specific research objectives. This paper delves into the challenges and outlines future research directions in the field of mobile traffic offloading.