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International Conference on Worldwide Computing and Its Applications

WWCA 1998: Worldwide Computing and Its Applications — WWCA'98 pp 222–237Cite as

Experiences with a mobile testbed

  • Session B-3: Mobile Computing
  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1368))

Abstract

This paper presents results from an eight-day network packet-trace of MosquitoNet. MosquitoNet allows users of laptop computers to switch seamlessly between a metropolitan-area wireless network and a wired network (10 Mbit/s Ethernet) available in offices and on-campus residences. Results include the amount of user mobility between the wired and wireless networks, the amount of mobility within the wireless network, an examination of application end-to-end delays, and an examination of overall packet loss and reordering in the wireless network. We find that the average mobile host switches between the wired and wireless networks 14 times during the trace and moves within the wireless network five times. Round trip latencies in the wireless network are very high, with a minimum of 0.2 seconds. Even higher end-to-end delays, of up to hundreds of seconds, are due to packet loss and reordering. These delays cause users to change their usage patterns when connected to the wireless network. We conclude that latency is a critical problem in the wireless network.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University, Stanford, USA

    Kevin Lai, Mema Roussopoulos, Diane Tang, Xinhua Zhao & Mary Baker

Authors
  1. Kevin Lai
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  2. Mema Roussopoulos
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  3. Diane Tang
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  4. Xinhua Zhao
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  5. Mary Baker
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Editor information

Yoshifumi Masunaga Takuya Katayama Michiharu Tsukamoto

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© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Lai, K., Roussopoulos, M., Tang, D., Zhao, X., Baker, M. (1998). Experiences with a mobile testbed. In: Masunaga, Y., Katayama, T., Tsukamoto, M. (eds) Worldwide Computing and Its Applications — WWCA'98. WWCA 1998. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1368. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-64216-1_51

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-64216-1_51

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-64216-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69704-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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