Using predictable mobility patterns to support scalable and secure MANETs of handheld devices.

ABSTRACTMobile ad-hoc networks of wireless devices (MANETs) hold the promise of providing network services without traditional infrastructures that could fall victim to manipulation and censorship. Unfortunately, current MANET systems suffer significant scalability problems, effectively precluding their use for general-purpose networking. We suggest tailoring MANETs to particular classes of application and leveraging application-specific properties to increase scalability. This paper describes the design of a scalable and secure MANET for text-based personal communication. Our design is based on geographic routing and uses human motion and communication patterns to facilitate location tracking and distribution, thereby increasing scalability above that of traditional geographic routing. We provide location privacy by transplanting mix-net techniques into MANETs.