Energy Efficient Opportunistic Wireless Networks as Digital Inclusion Support and Easy Access to Information in Southeast of Goias-Brazil

摘要

The lack of network infrastructure and communication technologies and services results in a high rate of digital exclusion in the rural areas of southeast of Goias state in Brazil. Despite the public and private investments on different sectors of society, the population still suffers from a lack of Internet connectivity which generates immeasurable social, cultural, and economic losses for the entire state of Goias. This work presents a project that aims to study, validate, optimize and implement technologies and infrastructure based on energy efficient opportunistic wireless networks (within the context of Delay Tolerant Networks - DTN). The goal is to facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge in the rural communities of southeast of Goias state. Thus, applications related to medicine, education, agriculture and environmental protection can be easily deployed and used to improve the life quality of the population in such isolated rural areas. Potential solutions are expected to be evaluated and validated through simulators (Opportunistic Network Environment - ONE, Network Simulator - NS-2/NS-3) and real test bed (prototype based on Arduino hardware). In addition to bringing different benefits (e.g., social and digital inclusion) for the target community, the presented project aims at exchanging experience among undergraduate students, postgraduate researchers and institutions involved, resulting in increased qualification of such knowledge in this area.