PNP2008: Development of a user centric ambient communication environment
Personal Networks
Personal Networks (PNs) is a new concept based on the following trends:
- People possess more and more electronic devices that have networking functionality, enabling the device to share content, data, applications, and resources with other devices, and to communicate with the rest of the world.
- In the various living and working domains of the user (home, car, office, workplace, etcetera), clusters of networked devices (“private networks”) appear.
- When people are on the move, they carry an increasing number of electronic devices that communicate using the public mobile network. As such devices in the users personal operating space become capable of connecting to each other, they form a Personal Area Network (PAN).
A Personal Network is envisaged as the next step in achieving unlimited communication between people’s electronic devices. It comprises the technology needed to interconnect the various private networks of a single user seamlessly, at any time and at any place, even if the user is highly mobile.
PNP2008
The Freeband PNP2008 (Personal Network Pilot 2008) project develops the PN concept into practical technology and demonstrators. The main results of the project are:
- Network Architectures and Protocols. Architecture of PNs; protocols and mechanisms for resource and context discovery; techniques for naming, addressing and routing in PNs; protocols and mechanisms for self-organization and management at PAN and PN level.
- Security and biometric authentication. PNs Security Architecture; RBAC for PNs; biometric authentication algorithms; functional specification of distributed and light-weight security mechanisms for PNs
- Personal Network Provider (PNP) business models and technology. Generic business model for the PNP; service offerings and organization design for PNs; constellations of business roles for introduction and exploitation of services; architecture and protocols of the PNP and for routing and mobility management in PNs.
- Market and user aspects. Insight in market with target groups and their needs, user scenarios, requirements, and experience, interaction design for the PN.
- Demonstrators and living-lab experiments. Every year the various demonstrator components as defined in the individual work-packages will be integrated into a single demonstrator and tested in a small user trial.
Application domains
We have shown the value of PNs in four different application and user domains:
- Our “Medicam” demonstrator shows the use of PNs in a hospital’s operating theatre. It has successfully been piloted in various hospitals in the Netherlands.
- The “Always at Home” demonstrator shows context-aware access to multiple-play services depending on the user being at home or away.
- “MarcoPolog” shows a PN managing all kinds of content produced a traveler. The traveler does not need to concern about what is stored when and where.
- “PNPay Travel” demonstrates seamless integration of paying for travelling by car and by public transport and shows ways of providing additional services to travellers.
The use of PNs in other domains is under study. Also we investigate trans-sector effects that may occur when various (business) domains collaborate, for instance after a car accident, and use the same PN technology.
Download here the complete projectinformation
