The Ambient Networks project is a European project in which IMAGINE Laboratory is involved as a full partner. This project is of type “Integrated Project” an instrument of the 6th Framework Programme. Ambient Networks aims at developing an innovative, industrially exploitable mobile network solution that enables the composition of networks across business and technology boundaries in order to make efficient use of infrastructure resources and to stimulate new business developments and growth in the wireless domain.

The project offers a unique strategic opportunity to resolve the major technological challenges and related business issues around ambient networking as a European approach with global impact. This motivates the “Ambient Networks” project, which covers the networking part of the Wireless World Initiative. In its first phase (January 2004- December, 2005) the “Ambient Networks” project has established the Ambient Networks concept based on user requirements which where derived from a broad range of scenarios and business models. An architecture including functional components was specified. Necessary technological developments to realize Ambient Networks were identified and the feasibility of each component was shown.

The Phase 2 (January 2006-December 2007) of the project addresses now the engineering of the overall solution, detailing and verifying the specifications and verifying the performance of Ambient Networks. This will result in an integrated, project wide prototype and system level simulation results for key technical problems. Phase 2 will further evolve the innovations of phase 1, especially the multi-access resource management, network composition, network context management, mobility-triggering framework and media overlays. Security, naming and migration will become integrated, project-wide themes. New aspects researched in phase 2 are competitive access selection, new compensation models for ambient networks, dynamic inter¬networking and policy management. The extended dissemination activities will be continued and standardization contributions intensified, with the firm background of a proven concept. Click here to learn more about Ambient Networks European Project.