Hikernet

Abstract

Hikernet is a messaging service that enables electronic communication in areas without ordinary network access. The transport of messages is based on small devices that are carried around, and which can exchange messages at close range based on peer-to-peer connections in an ad-hoc network. This thesis investigates whether mobile phones are a suitable platform for Hikernet. Messages are transferred between the phones via bluetooth. J2ME and Java APIs for Bluetooth Wireless Technology (JABWT) are chosen for programming the mobile phones. A node rendezvous algorithm is introduced in this document for power saving. This document describes the implementation of Hikernet in Java and the node rendezvous algorithm. Mobile phones seem to be suitable for Hikernet, while J2ME and JABWT seem to be less suitable due to implementation flaws in the firmware. The application is not able to run stable on the two test phones (Nokia 6230 and Sony Ericsson k750i) for a longer period of time. Since the application could not be run over a long period of time power used by the application could not be measured. Instead this thesis presents a theoretical analysis of the power consumption of the application. Depending on the node rendezvous parameters used we show that the node rendezvous algorithm introduced can save a significant amount of power compared to a node without node rendezvous.