Adapting Android Devices for Multi-Hop Communication in Infrastructureless Ad-Hoc Networks
Abstract
Affordable, lightweight, and energy-efficient commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) mobile devices provide a tactical and economical advantage for both military personnel and civilian organizations operating in environments with degraded or no communications infrastructure. Since COTS mobile devices today require an existing and stable infrastructure for communicating reliably out of the box, this research explores how devices running the Android operating system can be modified and extended to support multi-hop communication in ad-hoc networks lacking infrastructure such as a server and satellite, or cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity. We show that the previously available wireless ad-hoc mode can be enabled on select Android devices regardless of their version, and provide the design and implementation of the tools necessary to distinguish those devices as well as configure the wireless interface. Furthermore, we provide a list of Android devices already screened by the designed tool and explain how to leverage the enabled ad-hoc mode to design and implement a portable, adaptable, and usable chat protocol with multi-hop capability that does not require a server. Finally, we test and evaluate our implementation, which can be easily installed for communication among multiple mobile Android devices that randomly join or leave the network in environments lacking infrastructure.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1065459
Entities
People
- Claes Nyberg
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School