FlashLinQ: enabling a mobile proximal internet

Abstract

FlashLinQ is a wireless communications system founded on the realization of a "wireless sense"-a sense whose embodiment in devices provides Internet application peers with a direct awareness of each other's physical proximity and relevance, creating a new form of proximityaware internetworking, and thereby realizing a necessary step towards what we term a "Mobile Proximal Internet". The need for such a system arises from the pervasive spread of Internet devices and applications in our daily lives, and the practical limitations of current communications technologies in conveying knowledge of mutual proximity and relevance. In this paper, we introduce a mobile proximity-aware social network use case, and describe the overview of technology and our simulation, prototype implementation and initial field/lab test results.