Alternative use of smartphones as communication terminals

There are a number of cases where mobile phones do not have access to base stations (or where such communication is not optimal). Examples are areas where operators do not find establishing base stations profitable, inside some buildings, during and after catastrophes, during network overload or due to short time technical failures. Relaying of network traffic may be useful if only some network operators are present or some phones are better positioned than others. In some low-income countries/areas subscription and taxes may be a very significant part of the salary and the population would benefit from a combination with less expensive communication channels.

Smartphones are attractive as communication terminals due to their flexibility, programmability, widespread use/availability, high performance/cost factor and added functionality such as GPS, sensors, and hardware/software for generation, processing and presentation of images, videos, sound and documents.

Smartphones has the possibility for additional communication channels through cellular radio, Wifi, Bluetooth and usb-interface. The phones may establish a mesh-network between themselves forwarding calls and messages for each other. The range may be increased very significantly by different types of repeaters or bridges to other frequencies, satellite phones, fixed cables etc.

Interested students should have a strong expertise in Java, Android-programming and/or Linux. A possible master thesis can be focused toward software only or include hardware development of repeaters/bridges.

The research will be done in cooperation with the Serval project at Adelaide University in Australia. (See http://www.servalproject.org/.)

Interested students may contact Senior Research Scientist Joar Martin Østby (joar <at> ifi.uio.no.no) at SINTEF ICT, department of communication systems.

Publisert 29. aug. 2014 13:43 - Sist endret 29. aug. 2014 13:45

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