Investigators at Dartmouth College will develop an archive of wireless network data and associated tools for collecting and processing the data, as a community resource for those involved in wireless network research and education. Most current research is based on analytical or simulation models; due to the complexity of radio propagation in the real world and a lack of understanding about the behavior of real wireless applications and users, these models are severely limited. On the other hand, the difficult logistical challenges involved in collecting detailed traces of wireless network activity preclude most people from working with experimental data. The investigators will build on experience collecting data from wireless networks that has bee released to the research community. The project will construct a shared facility for storing large data sets collected from real wireless networks, develop common formats and tools for collecting, anonymizing, and analyzing this data, host visiting students who want to use the archive or collaborate on tool development, work with community leaders to encourage contribution to and use of the archive, coordinate with other community efforts to develop network trace formats and tools, and encourage educators to use the tools and data in course projects, and to share course modules. This project will have broad academic and practical impact in the wireless network community through enabling research by users of the data resources, providing data and analysis software for educators, and involving women and minorities in the project.
