2nd International IEEE Conference on Communication System Software and Middleware

Research Article

An Analysis of Epidemic Information Access in the PeopleNet Architecture

  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.1109/COMSWA.2007.382415,
        author={Vikram  Srinivasan and Mehul Motani},
        title={An Analysis of Epidemic Information Access in the PeopleNet Architecture},
        proceedings={2nd International IEEE Conference on Communication System Software and Middleware},
        publisher={IEEE},
        proceedings_a={COMSWARE},
        year={2007},
        month={7},
        keywords={Cellular phones  Computer architecture  Computer interfaces  Information analysis  Internet  Libraries  Navigation  Peer to peer computing  Social network services  TV},
        doi={10.1109/COMSWA.2007.382415}
    }
    
  • Vikram Srinivasan
    Mehul Motani
    Year: 2007
    An Analysis of Epidemic Information Access in the PeopleNet Architecture
    COMSWARE
    IEEE
    DOI: 10.1109/COMSWA.2007.382415
Vikram Srinivasan1,*, Mehul Motani1,*
  • 1: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore
*Contact email: elevs@nus.edu.sg, motani@nus.edu.sg

Abstract

In this paper, we look at the performance of epidemic information access in PeopleNet-like networks. PeopleNet is based on the idea of wireless virtual social networking, which mimics the way people find information via their social contacts. The basic idea is that people want easy access to information. Information, which is in high demand, can be collected and stored in a central repository or database, e.g., libraries, archives, and web sites. However, there are certain kinds of information which can neither be quantified nor categorized nicely. These kinds of information are typically location specific, community specific and even time-specific and are often found by asking your family, friends, colleagues or people you trust. Our architecture for PeopleNet consists of a multi-tiered architecture of mobile devices and access points, which allow users to navigate for information. We study and simulate the performance of an epidemic style of content dissemination and access in the PeopleNet networks. Our initial analysis indicates that PeopleNet can result in several orders of magnitude improvements over other naive proposals for wireless virtual social networking.