From: Gregory Alan Bolcer (gbolcer@endtech.com)
Date: Sat Dec 23 2000 - 07:50:53 PST
Oh, I thought you wanted an exmaple of somthing
that was p2p device communication.
The wearables came out of the active badges work
at Xerox, so it's proof of concept leading to
futures apps. It's like Sun's Jini, except
for mobile, disconnected, and protocol agile
applications.
On cell phones, the app gets triggered any
time the power or signal changes through an "agent monitor"
built on top of the mobile java stuff (or eventually
our smaller python stack); on bluetooth devices,
we get a signal sent from their stack that something's in range--
although I don't know the details of the protocol. I know
irda does 3 second queries which really suck for batteries
& I know the bluetooth people were very careful to take
this & presence broadcasting into account.
We haven't been calling our stuff Internet, we've been
using Web protocols to do interdevice coordination and proxying.
So it's not THE Web, it's millions upon millions of dynamically
discriminated mobile and disconnected Webs.
Oh wait, I guess that would be kind of like a munchkin, huh?
Greg
Strata Rose Chalup wrote:
>
> Hmm.
>
> I'm not sure I get it. I wasn't out to say that it was or wasn't P2P,
> just wondered what it DID, and I admit, I'm still in the dark. I guess I
> have such an irascible net personality that when I ask an innocent
> question folks assume I'm being growly...not the intent!
>
> What does this peeriness between the T-shirt and the doorknob
> accomplish? Is it badging? Is it "hi mom, I'm home"? Is it
> proof-of-concept leading to future proximity apps?
>
> I can see some great proximity apps for a "hi, it's <signature> me"
> shirt, though. If the shirt is broadcasting all the time, how does one
> control inadvertant proximity effect? If it's not broadcasting all the
> time, how does one trigger it to do so? If the shirt only says "hi"
> when a local doorknob says "anybody out there?", well, there's some
> interesting proximity intercept things that will be entertaining kiddies
> in times to come. :-)
>
> Though I will say that's an interesting definition-chunk of P2P, namely
> cutting out the "requirements for needing full time internet
> connection". "The" internet is merely "an" internet, and requiring
> communication on a local bluetooth net is neither more nor less reliable
> than requiring communication on a wireless internet-routable network or
> a wired lan or a wired internet-routable network.
>
> I'm not sure that I'd agree that any individual or combination of the
> factors you cited in support of P2P-ness would really matter except lack
> of reliance on proxy (which is what I assume you mean by cut out all the
> intermediate steps). Again, you need SOME channel for the peers to
> communicate, it's just irrelevant if its "the" internet or "an"
> internet/lan. Beaming is P2P, and relies on an "internet" or "network"
> composed of a known protocol and self-scanning of my own IrDa port.
>
> If the t-shirt is supposed to open the electronic lock in the doorknob
> for you, and either your shirt or the doorknob is "down", you're still
> going to be knocking and yelling to be let in. So you still need a comm
> path, call it what you like, between peers. I'd watch out for having
> "the internet" be mentioned in any part of that, as it's not really
> relevant.
>
> Cheers,
> _Strata
>
> --
> ========================================================================
> Strata Rose Chalup [KF6NBZ] strata "@" virtual.net
> VirtualNet Consulting http://www.virtual.net/
> ** Project Management & Architecture for ISP/ASP Systems Integration **
> =========================================================================
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