Ad Hoc Communication Topology Switching during Disasters from Altruistic to Individualistic and Back

Abstract

Disaster communication has made immense progress in the last thirty years. At present, disaster research focuses on bottom-up approaches such as civilian inclusion in disaster response. With the advent of smartphones, citizen-based emergency communication has become possible. Present ad hoc communication technologies typically form a fully connected mesh network, which connects all phones that are within each other's transmission range. This facilitates low-latency direct communication between citizens, but it quickly drains the battery of phones. Alternative ad hoc communication networks form an adaptive energy-efficient network topology, that is most draining to batteries of phones that have a higher charge, while low-energy phones are spared from relaying messages, thereby preserving battery and thus maintaining their connection with the rescue communication network. Both of these approaches have their own advantages. Which one is best for communication needs depends on the context. This position paper discusses the possibility of a decision model as an approach to automatically switch between the two alternative ad hoc communication networks. This ensures that citizens in disasters can make use of the optimal communication system at all times.