Serval mesh software-WiFi multi model management

Abstract

This paper describes the WiFi Multi-Modal Management component of the Serval Mesh Software. The Serval Mesh Software is a mobile telephony platform that can operate independent of fixed infrastructure, by using the WiFi capability of the device to automatically form a wireless mesh network that supports the carriage of voice calls, short messages and other modes of communication. Context and use cases for the Serval Mesh Software are included to provide the reader with some context. After describing the lack of inherent ad-hoc WiFi support on Android mobile telephones and the problems that result, this paper describes the WiFi Multi-Modal Management component incorporated into the Serval Mesh Software, that is used to maximize the mesh connectivity options available on any given model of telephone handset. The approach taken is to modularize the detection and control of the WiFi hardware on each model of handset so that support for new handsets can be added without recompiling the software or managing a single byzantine monolithic control script that contains the commands for all supported handset models. This modular approach is then leveraged to facilitate automated acquisition of WiFi ad-hoc mode on hitherto unsupported models of Android telephone handsets, removing the need for labor-intensive manual crafting of these scripts, and the bottleneck and infrastructure-dependence that this previously entailed. The paper concludes with preliminary results indicating the success of the improvements to the Serval Mesh Software project described in this paper, including anecdotal reports from third-party users of the software.