Context-aware File Sharing for Opportunistic Networks

Opportunistic networks are mainly characterized by nodes intermittently connected among them. Available applications designed for mobile ad hoc networks are not suitable for such an environment since we cannot assume to have a stable path between pairs of nodes. Network protocols and applications themselves must be enhanced to exploit all possible communication opportunities to deliver messages on the network. In this demo we present an enhanced file sharing application based on the exchange of context information between nodes. In this case the context is defined as a combination of the user personal information, interests, and social relationships in order to implement cooperative downloading mechanisms. Besides reducing the impact of intermittent connectivity and high mobility on multi-hop communications, exploiting context also allows us to avoid flooding, thus resulting in a very efficient approach.