Peer-to-Peer Networking Takes Internet Out of the Equation ICT Results (10/03/08)
as it appeared in the October 6, 2008 edition of ACM TechNews.
European researchers working on the POPEYE project have developed software that enables independent, ad hoc, secure networks to be created anytime, anywhere without using the Internet. POPEYE uses technology already embedded in many portable computing devices, and the researchers developed new software that can handle the wide variety of hardware standards in those devices, enabling devices by different manufacturers to spontaneously create a network. "It doesnÂ’t matter if there are different brands of Wi-Fi cards or laptops, if they have a small amount of storage space and small screens, or plenty of memory and a big screen, the POPEYE system can bring them all together," says POPEYE project coordinator Nicolas Berthet. The software creates a shared repository that everyone in the network can access, allowing users to move documents and files to other devices on the network, and because the resources of the devices are being shared to create the repository, someone with a small PDA will get the same access to material as someone with a powerful laptop. The common repository only exists because the community exists, and it ceases to exist when the community disbands, ensuring documents and other material are not left in an insecure location or hub. Click Here to View Full Article
