Accommodating transient connectivity in Ad Hoc and mobile settings

Much of the work on networking and communications is based on the premise that components interact in one of two ways: either they are connected via a stable wired or wireless network, or they make use of persistent storage repositories accessible to the communicating parties. A new generation of networks raises serious questions about the validity of these fundamental assumptions. In mobile ad hoc wireless networks connections are transient and availability of persistent storage is rare. This paper is concerned with achieving communication among mobile devices that may never find themselves in direct or indirect contact with each other at any point in time. A unique feature of our contribution is the idea of exploiting information associated with the motion and availability profiles of the devices making up the ad hoc network. This is the starting point for an investigation into a range of possible solutions whose essential features are controlled by the manner in which motion profiles are acquired and the extent to which such knowledge is available across an ad hoc network.