FEDNETS: Context-aware Ad-hoc Network Federations

This paper introduces the concept of fednets. Fednets are temporary ad-hoc federations of networks with the objective of achieving a specific common goal. Fednets are driven by purpose and opportunity. Fednets are constituted by a set of independent networks under mutually agreed rules for cooperation. The rules for cooperation are policies to control under what circumstances (context) with what networks and for what purposes cooperation is allowed. We discuss the concept of fednets by focusing on fednets formed by personal networks (PN), which are person-centric networks connecting personal devices and artefacts regardless of geographical location.