Smartphone ad hoc network
Wireless ad hoc network that uses smartphones / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Smartphone ad hoc networks (SPANs; also smart phone ad hoc networks) are wireless ad hoc networks that use smartphones. Once embedded with ad hoc networking technology, a group of smartphones in close proximity can together create an ad hoc network. Smart phone ad hoc networks use the existing hardware (primarily Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) in commercially available smartphones to create peer-to-peer networks without relying on cellular carrier networks, wireless access points, or traditional network infrastructure. Wi-Fi SPANs use the mechanism behind Wi-Fi ad-hoc mode, which allows phones to talk directly among each other, through a transparent neighbor and route discovery mechanism. SPANs differ from traditional hub and spoke networks, such as Wi-Fi Direct, in that they support multi-hop routing (ad hoc routing) and relays and there is no notion of a group leader, so peers can join and leave at will without destroying the network.
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SPANs are useful under circumstances when the regular network is overloaded or unavailable, such as conferences, music festivals, or natural disasters, and have been popular in Australia and Latin America.[1] They are popular with youth in the United States as a way to save money, as data sent directly from device to device is free.[2]
SPANs started being used in Iraq in 2014 to bypass government restrictions on Internet usage,[3] in the 2014[4] and 2019–20 Hong Kong protests,[5] in 2015 in anti-government protests in Russia.[6] They have also been used by protestors in Taiwan, Iran, and Syria.[7]