Wireless tool kit for hand held devices

Abstract

Wireless networks can be broadly classified into two types - infrastructure based networks and ad hoc networks. The former uses fixed base stations (infrastructure) which are responsible for coordinating communication between the mobile hosts (nodes). These base stations are interconnected by wired back bones, where as mobile nodes communicate with the base station through the wireless media. The latter one consists of mobile nodes which communicate with each other through wireless medium without any fixed infrastructure. Hence there is no centralized infrastructure that takes care of the routing of information among the participants in the network. There has been a growing interest in ad hoc network in recent years as mobile devices have become more powerful and are capable of processing data like their desktop counterparts. When such a capability is available these devices should be able to share information among them without reliance on existing network infrastructure. Mobile devices are self configurable into either infrastructure or ad hoc mode. Protocols and software have been developed to enable mobile devices to connect to an infrastructure node, where as the same is not the case in the ad hoc environment. Host mobility causes frequent and unpredictable topological changes in a wireless environment. Finding and maintaining routes in ad hoc networks is a non trivial task. This thesis will develop software components that will enable communication in an ad hoc network. These components could be used to build collaborative services in such and ad hoc (802.11) wireless environment.