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“The routers are free to move randomly and organize themselves arbitrarily; thus, the network’s wireless topology may change rapidly and unpredictably. Such a network may operate in a standalone fashion, or may be connected to the larger Internet“.

Wikipedia

I was just browsing through DARPA’s LANdroid Program requirements and thought it would be worth blogging about MANet. The project’s goal is to create mobile robotic mesh networks based on small inexpensive devices, creating a “temporary infrastructure that establishes communications over the region” without having to be in line-of-sight to connect with one another. DARPA is mostly thinking of real-life changing conditions in urban environments.

This network configuration would be “multi-path, multi-hop, and multiply connected” per DARPA’s vision. LANdroids should be aware of their own location as well as that of their peers. They must be able to be autonomous and adaptive, self organizing to optimize the performance of the communications network anytime, anywhere.

Earlier this year, Duncan Graham-Rowe’s article on Technology Review which talked about “autonomous robotic fleas” capable of jumping and forming swarms of robots and networks of distributed sensors. It makes you wonder if LANdroid’s should carry them to expand their reach and sensorial capabilities. This would be specially useful in search and rescue scenarios involving emergency first responders.

There is quite a bit of research going on with regards to self-organizing swarms and sensor networks, just do an online search on the subject and you will see what I mean. There is growing interest in figuring out how to put together multihop wireless communication networks linking autonomous nodes in unplanned environments. In addition to military applications, most projects cover other areas such as remote monitoring, support for first responders, NASA’s planetary missions, law enforcement, etc.

Cisco has developed its own research on “a set of small smart robots, which can act as wireless communications relays, that sense when a mobile user is moving out of service range, and can follow the user to maintain connectivity”. Read Michael Cooney’s article on Networkworld for more information on this.

Just recently, a good friend from Germany made me aware of TerraNet, a new so-called peer-to-peer cell phone network. This is a Swedish company tweaking mobile phones to function without the need for base stations and service contracts:

“Every mobile phone is able to transmit up to half a mile away from their position, meaning communication is limited with just a couple of mobile phones, but if you have an area containing tens or hundreds of phones you effectively have a network where anyone can call anyone else free of charge. PCs can also be used by adding a USB dongle to them”.

Read Matthews blog on Geek.com and more information from BBC News.

What I found really interesting about this was the initial problem statement:

“While on safari in Tanzania in 2002, TerraNet founder Anders Carlius experienced the communication problems first-hand and couldn’t call a friend who was nearby, spurring him on to find a solution”.

The following is what you can read today on TerraNet’s newly created home page:

“Free local wireless calls, free texting, and long distance VoIP calls”.

“TerraNet technology provides all this through peer-to-peer wireless networking and with absolutely no need for base stations, antenna installations or infrastructure”.

“With TerraNet technology integrated any type of handheld device transforms into a wireless communicator. The technology integrates seamlessly with wired and wireless VoIP solutions”.

This reminds me the One Laptop per Child program, which I covered in previous posts. Just in case, OLPD is basically a $100-200 educational laptop designed for mass distribution in developing countries. These laptops can form an ad hoc wireless mesh network enabling kids to collaborate in the classroom, as well as connecting to the Internet.

If interested in exploring other potential applications involving MANet, I suggest visiting the Car 2 Car Communication Consortium: “road information is propagated through the mesh so that vehicles well out of radio range can be alerted to problems on the road ahead” as read on Ars Technica. You might also like to take a look at one of my posts on Toyota’s PM.

Going back to DARPA’s LANdroid program, there are other military initiatives involving aerial communications which could evolve into “flying LANdroids”. Some of the research is looking into a variety of airborne nodes including tethered balloon and UAVs, unmanned aerial vehicles. I  have come across the following videos showing flying devices (see below), which I’m adding here to complement this post.

When thinking of balloons, that made me recall an initiative led by Platforms Wireless International based on blimps (aerostats) hovering 15,000 feet above the ground. This project was originally intended to support the rollout of telecommunication services in developing countries. A single aerostat provides wireless coverage to an area 140 miles in diameter serving between 50,000 and 80,000 users. The ”airborne wireless communication system” was actually demo-ed about a year ago as a solution supporting teams involved in critical emergencies such as natural or man-made disasters.

José de Francisco  Chicago, 29 September 07  

“The Top 10″ at the time of uploading this post: [1] Design Concepts: Future Car. [2] Venture Capital Investment in Web 2.0. [3] Virtual Ventures = Prediction Markets + Crowdsourcing. [4] “Visual Futurist: The Art & Life Of Syd Mead”. [5] Project Ergofuturo: ErgoTrans (1991 Product Concept). [6] Mobile Applications (1). [7] Intellectual Property And Innovation In Virtual Worlds. [8] Mobile Blogging (6): Use Your Phone As A 3G Modem. [9] Innovative Mobile Phones: Objects Of Desire. [10] Lead User Innovation At 3M.