The Heads on Fire Community

We set out to do some research on cell-phone mesh networking to be used in emergencies/catastrophes when cell antennas are down and communicating becomes critical as it was on 9/11 and during Katrina. Mesh Networking works through connecting nodes, it hops from node to node, and can deliver data, voice and/or instructions.

We realized soon enough that we needed to choose specific hardware to implement this. We could either use Bluetooth technology, using Class 1 has a range of ~100 meters, or phones with 802.11 protocol. The Nokia N-500 series have been tested before through the 802.11 and have been successful indoors and outdoors as well.

We found one company, TerraNet, based in Sweden, who has developed the technology and is going to be implementing it soon, somewhere :| ("There are only TerraNet test networks in operation today. There is at least one commercial implementation planned during 2008"). We've contacted MobileActive about them and will soon be able to get more info and if they are willing to share any of their findings.

A very interesting project related to this is Fluid Nexus, that came out of the MediaLab Prado, Madrid, which uses Bluetooth and can only run on Nokia phones with some version of Series 60 Symbian. They've developed it to send SMS through a mesh network for activist reasons. The software is open-source, but they give this warning "At the moment, the installation of Fluid Nexus is not easy nor quick" :)

Yet another project is Reach WiFi , based in San Diego, that has developed a mesh networking system for all phones with wi-fi capability. The software can be downloaded and used directly. They've shown interest in working with us for non-profit and humanitarian causes.

Several links that have been helpful in understanding how mesh networking works and companies involved are located in this post.

Next step is to work with Reach Wifi and Fluid Nexus to develop a working mesh network for cell phones as a part of Golden Phoenix.