Abhinav Lal

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Posted on 01-11-2010

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We have come to take good network coverage for granted so late in the era of cellphones, with little thought as to the massive logistic and bureaucratic nightmare it must be to actually maintain and expand the infrastructure that powers it, and the demands a tower-based network technology places on the mobile devices themselves.

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To this end, researchers at the Queen’s University in Belfast propose a distributed-style network where future network nodes become small and portable enough to carry around, on your person. These network nodes or wearable sensors would be able to transmit and receive data between each other instead of directly between towers. This could theoretically allow for lower power consumption by the mobile devices, greater coverage and ultra high bandwidth in crowded areas, as well as adaptability and scalability of the network. The nodes or sensors could also very easily be embedded in the mobile devices themselves, giving users one less item to carry around.

Simon Cotton from the Queen’s University’s Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology had this to say about the idea of body-to-body networks becoming a commonplace technology: “If the idea takes off, BBNs could also lead to a reduction in the number of base stations needed to service mobile phone users, particularly in areas of high population density. This could help to alleviate public perceptions of adverse health associated with current networks and be more environmentally friendly due to the much lower power levels required for operation.”

Cotton estimates that the technology would grow in leaps and bounds, and will attract implementation to the tune of nearly 400 million body-to-body network devices globally by 2014. Sparsely populated areas (and we hope that those don’t become a novelty any time soon) will of course not reap the benefits of BBN quite as well as urban centres, but then again, removing existing network infrastructure would be an time & energy consuming task as well. Of course, the very idea of allowing your private or personal data to be floating in the ether between people, through each individual’s network nodes, is riddled with worries about data theft and spyware, and even, cyber-terrorism.

Other benefits include better applications of mobile multiplayer gaming, training and healthcare monitoring, and more.