By Humayun Bakht
Wireless networks can generally be classified as wireless fixed and wireless ad-hoc networks. Unlike wireless ad-hoc networks, wireless fixed networks operate with the help of various network supporting components, such as base stations. One of the important aspects of wireless ad-hoc networks is the ease of deployment these networks offer compared to fixed wireless networks. As a result, these networks are widely seen as a potential technology to replace existing wireless infrastructure.
Interest in wireless ad-hoc networking continues to grow. The focus of current research is to invent various techniques to support different network control functions in a mobile ad-hoc network. The aim is to reduce installation and maintenance hassles. Setting up a wireless environment in your home is not only costly (even though the price has come down tremendously in the past few years) but also there are several other issues that are involved.
First, not everyone has the technical knowledge to choose the best wireless product that suits your needs at a lower price. Moreover, if you're not an expert in setting up network systems, chances are you'll have to track down your more technical friends to resolve various problems which may come up. This won't only cost more (even if only a good pizza), but also creates unnecessary burden on the end user. Likewise, very rarely we find people who are willing to learn different concepts of network terminologies.
Setting up a wireless system in its present state requires end users to have at least basic knowledge in order to do minor changes on a day-to-day basis. One final and a major issue is the need to update the installed system. It happens that the system and the network supporting software could be outdated with time. Therefore, to achieve faster and better service, end users might have to update different parts of their system.
Therefore, there is a solid need of a network system which can easily be used by both technical and non-technical users. The system needs to be easily accessible and easy to understand. Mobile ad-hoc networks offer these features. Successful deployment of these networks could possibly create an environment where we can use various home objects such as washing machines, ovens and cookers for networking purposes. Ad-hoc networks can easily be deployed and can be well suited in all environments, including home, industry, education and banking.
Another area which has garnered attention is how to connect an ad-hoc network with a larger network such as the Internet. Work is on the way to establish mechanisms which could allow a mobile ad-hoc network to be connected with larger networks. One final thing is security both for home and business. Ad-hoc sensor networks, which are one of the implementations of mobile ad-hoc networks, are currently used to secure different places such as shopping malls and parking lots.
There is very little doubt that we'll soon be able to see mobile ad-hoc network deployment at almost all places; provided certain definitions and concepts have been addressed fully in order to support various network functions of mobile ad-hoc networks.
