Supporting Smart Applications in Multihop Ad-Hoc Networks - The GecGo Middleware

The goal of the GecGo middleware is to provide all the services required by self-organizing distributed applications running on multihop ad-hoc networks. Because of the frequent as well as unreliable and anonymous communication between accidental neighbors observed in these networks, applications have to adapt continuously to changes in the mobile environment and the GecGo middleware offers the required tight coupling. Additionally, GecGo addresses specifically the issue of en passant communication, where moving neighbor devices may interact only for short periods of time. In this paper, the architecture and basic concepts of the GecGo middleware are discussed and a prototype implementation of GecGo using the Microsoft Windows CE 4.2 .NET operating system for mobile devices and the .NET Compact Framework is presented. The paper also addresses issues on application programming and example application prototypes for these mobile networks.