I2R to collaborate with NICTA in building innovative wireless network using mobile phones

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Singapore’s A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) will partner NICTA, Australia’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Research Centre of Excellence, to develop and demonstrate a trustworthy mobile wireless communications and broadcast system. This is the second joint research engagement between the two organizations.

Under a new two-year agreement, I2R and NICTA will design an architecture that will let groups of people connect with each other in real-time using their mobile phones or smart phones, without the need for expensive communications infrastructure. Unlike a traditional wireless network with fixed access points, the connective “tissue” of this temporary network will vanish once the communication is complete. Made up of a number of wirelessly connected smart phones or mobiles, the network forms as different devices come within range of one another and the data “hops” between the users’ devices.

“With this project, we are exploring opportunities in the mobile services area which involve trusted collaborative communications,” said NICTA Project Leader Dr Roksana Boreli. “This research is seeking a way to share content across a temporary mobile network using existing wireless links like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, while ensuring that the connections are trusted and cost-effective.”

I2R Project Leader Associate Professor Chen-Khong Tham concurs. “What is exciting is that we are exploring ways to encourage mobile phone users to let their phones help others in the vicinity, and recognizing and rewarding the trustworthy helpers.”

Offering potential savings in the areas of infrastructure and connection costs, the proposed architecture would be suitable for future streaming, broadcast and unicast applications. The architecture will be based on I2R Co-Project Leader Dr Robert Hsieh's prior work on the Opportunistic Temporal-Pairing Access Network (OPAN) framework.

Professor Lye Kin Mun, Deputy Executive Director, I2R (Research) said, “This is the second time we have had a good research partnership with NICTA and the cross border alliance leads to better co-operation and advantages between the two parties”

“Over the last year, NICTA and I2R have conducted joint research on the development of innovative maritime wireless mesh networks. I look forward to continuing this fruitful association in this exciting new project,” said NICTA’s Acting CEO Dr Phil Robertson.
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