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MANet: telecommunication with a spaghetti networkDeze inleiding in het Nederlands In circumstances where mobile telephony as we know it is not possible or difficult, perhaps internet technology can be of help. The dependancy on a costly telecominfrastructure could thereby be decreased, which would be quite welcome considering the current situation in the telecom world. The technology that is to make this possible is MANet, or Mobile Adhoc Networking. The solution lies in the mobile device itself. The quality or even availability of a mobile connection relies on the position of the receiver relative to the field antennae forming the network. Such a network looks like a honeycomb, where every antenna covers one of the cells. Almost by definition a network like that has weak spots once it is built, because in the real world it has to coexist with geographical hinderances as forests, roads and rivers. In some areas it is not even realistic to try to build such a network, if only because it is impossible to supply the required amount of energy to the antennae (not to mention the uplink to the telecom infrastructure). Even satellite telephony - though very useful - is not the definite answer to this problem, as the capacity is limited and there are situations (for instance underground or up in the air) where the phone cannot 'see' the satellite. Here we come to the point where we can learn a number of things from the internet. When two computers are communicating with each other on the internet, neither one is more important than the other. In a cellular network the phone is subservient to the network: even if two phones are used right next to each other, any connection they make is always via the network and the field antennae. And yet a mobile phone is as much a broadcast device as it is a receiver (we can talk and listen at the same time, can't we). A second useful attribute is the aspect of flexibility of the connections for information flows on the internet. Nodes on the internet (the so called routers) continually learn what connections other nodes have available. With a mobile network perhaps this information exchange should happen at a higher frequency because the individual nodes are free to move, and the availability of connections would therefore vary faster, but the method is valid. The image that would describe such a network is that of a plate of spaghetti: two points in the space taken up by the pasta are connected by a 'pasta backbone', that would randomly vary as the pasta is stirred (and not by a fixed and highly structured network topology as with a cellular network). If we combine these two elements, then we get a reasonably good idea of how MANet will eventually be of use: mobile devices that form a peer-to-peer network for the exchange of data, or channel through speach or data to the telecom network when there is no other route available. This could generate interesting new business models, because the end users could under certain conditions bypass commercial networks (as when you are standing next to each other). Perhaps a good analogy is the old walkie talkie, that keeps its niche despite of the omnipresence of the modern mobile phone. For filesharing and other peer-to-peer services MANet can surely add something to the possibilities of the currently available technologies such as 3G telefony (UMTS etc). MANet itself as a technology is still young, and developments are promising. Its final impact relies quite a lot on the way in which the telecom world and the hardware suppliers will act on its appearance on the scene. Author: drs. Michiel Leenaars (senior beleidsmedewerker ISOC.nl).
More info on MANetOn wednesday januari 16th 2002 there is a masterclass MANet organised by ISOC.nl. The masterclass will be given by the eminent American internet expert Fred Baker. Fred Baker is among other things member of the highest international committee that oversees the development of the internet, the Internet Architecture Board (IAB). Before that he was chair of the IETF between 1996 and 2001.
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