Abstract

We are designing AllNet, a new networking technology to provide near-ubiquitous connectivity. Such technology can be used even when the infrastructure is unavailable, to provide general connectivity between individuals and between individuals and the Internet. AllNet can be particularly useful in cases of emergency. The way AllNet works is to send data packets from one mobile device to another and when available, over the Internet, until the packets reach their destination. The more people participate in AllNet, the more devices there are to forward packets, and more effective the technology can be. That is, AllNet is only effective if people agree to help others. We therefore propose a range of techniques to motivate people to share a small fraction of their available resources, mainly battery and bandwidth, to provide connectivity to others. People's motivations for action range from selfish to altruistic, including mixed motivations that might be hard to classify as either one or the other. We would like to support individual choices to use AllNet using any such motivations. Gaining credit within an online community and providing resources when abundant for the individual, so that others will provide when the individual's resources are scarce, are often considered selfish motivations, but they support the communication and online community as well. More directly altruistic motivations include participating in and supporting emergency communications, providing a service to others, and contributing in building a new online community. Generally, we hope to cater to a range of motivations with the benefits that the new technology can provide to the individual, as well as the benefits AllNet can provide to society and large numbers of individuals.