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.