Changing Communication Environments in MosquitoNet

MosquitoNet is a new project at Stanford University for investigating operating system and application issues in mobile and wireless computing. Our initial goals focus on providing the appearance of continuous network connectivity for mobile hosts. To achieve these goals we must first enable portable computers to move seamlessly from one communications medium to another, for example from an Ethernet connection to a wireless modem, without rebooting or restarting applications. Second, we must determine how to manage the resulting dynamic changes in network characteristics, either transparently or through a simple interface between the network and the applications. Other goals include developing power management policies for network devices and experimenting with file data consistency algorithms for networks in which disconnection may be economically desirable, but seamless network re-connection is almost always possible.