  In this work, we study the joint optimization of edge caching and data
sponsoring for a video content provider (CP), aiming at reducing the content
delivery cost and increasing the CP's revenue. Specifically, we formulate the
joint optimization problem as a two-stage decision problem for the CP. In Stage
I, the CP determines the edge caching policy (for a relatively long time
period). In Stage II, the CP decides the real-time data sponsoring strategy for
each content request within the period. We first propose a Lyapunov-based
online sponsoring strategy in Stage II, which reaches 90% of the offline
maximum performance (benchmark). We then solve the edge caching problem in
Stage I based on the online sponsoring strategy proposed in Stage II, and show
that the optimal caching policy depends on the aggregate user request for each
content in each location. Simulations show that such a joint optimization can
increase the CP's revenue by 30%~100%, comparing with the purely data
sponsoring (i.e., without edge caching).
