Cumulus Humilis: Wireless Mesh Networking for Gliders

Digital communication between gliders would be beneficial because exchange of information has the potential to provide insight not only to the pilot but also other pilots and people on the ground. However, such a communication does not exist. In this paper we present a solution for the exchange of information using opportunistic dissemination – pro-actively spreading information - through a wireless mesh network - a network in which each participant (node) can act as a router. A challenge faced in designing our opportunistic dissemination is how to handle different types of information, as information regarding an emergency has a higher priority than information regarding the weather, for instance. We evaluate our solution via simulation.