Random and Uninformed Summary Impressions (or, how Victor finally found something I could talk about) Scott Shenker

The Spirit of This Talk If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. –proverb If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come and sit next to me. –Alice Roosevelt Longworth

Not What I’m Used To Internet: –single architecture has to accommodate all scenarios –helps unify discussions Mesh networking (and other wireless research) –work must address lower layers –each scenario can have a different solution –wasn’t always clear (to me) what problem is being solved, or why

Some Mesh Networking Scenarios Military/FR ad hoc networks –scale, extreme environments, mobility, variability Making “office” deployment cheaper –use few-hop routing between access points –no scale, mild environments, stationary, uniform “Community” mesh networks –somewhere in between

Why Community Mesh Networks? Enable new community interactions –borrowing an electronic cup of sugar Extend reach of Internet access beyond current DSL/cable deployment –poor, rural, developing world Reach higher speeds faster than wired infrastructure –catering to the overprivileged

Four Distinctions Why people install vs emergent uses Community services vs neighborly exchanges Mesh infrastructure vs autonomously run Wireless links vs mesh architecture

Three Predictions Wireless multihop will become common in developing world (rural too?) –but they won’t be meshes Communities will also use wireless point- to-point networks –enabled by software directional antennas –adaptive topology will lead to resilience –MAC and routing = easy; topology = hard I will never, ever, rely on my neighbor