Opportunistic networking is a networking paradigm according to which mobile devices such as smartphones communicate with each other in a peer-to-peer fashion rather than relying on network infrastructures such as the Internet.
- The paradigm is called opportunistic because the communication opportunity can be short as the two devices may move out of each other’s wireless coverage very quickly due to mobility, explains Pan Hui.
- This technology can be applied to disaster scenarios where the network infrastructures are destroyed or to densely populated areas when the cellular network has reached its capacity limit. It can be applied even to the future 5G networks that would support Device-to-Device (D2D) communication.
Co-founder of an active field in mobile computing
Opportunistic networking has become an active research field in the mobile computing and networking community and it is one of the main targeted research topics by top international networking conferences such as IEEE Infocom and ACM Mobicom. Professor Pan Hui has co-founded this field by conducting large number of empirical mobility measurements, bridging mobile networks and social networks researchers, and putting theory into practice.
His contributions in the field are considered seminal, and he was also elected as an ACM Distinguished Scientist in 2016 for contributions to mobility modelling and routing in opportunistic networking. The ACM Distinguished Member program recognizes those members who have achieved a significant impact on the computing field.
Turning research into practice
Pan Hui has more than 10 years’ industry related experience in this line of industry, and he has been working within the field of computer science at the University of Helsinki since September 2017.
- I am dedicated to turning my research into practice and create real impact to the society, he says.
- University of Helsinki is an ideal place for achieving my goal as it has both freedom of research and also a strong atmosphere of innovation. I hope I can make something even more impactful here.
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