SONIC: Connect the Unconnected via FM Radio & SMS
Fuente:
arXiv
Enregistré dans:
| Auteurs principaux: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Publié: |
2024
|
| Sujets: | |
| Accès en ligne: | |
| Tags: |
Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
|
| _version_ | 1866929405803102208 |
|---|---|
| author | Pandey, Ayush Asim, Rohail Mengal, Khalid Varvello, Matteo Zaki, Yasir |
| author_facet | Pandey, Ayush Asim, Rohail Mengal, Khalid Varvello, Matteo Zaki, Yasir |
| contents | As of 2022, about 2.78 billion people in developing countries do not have access to the Internet. Lack of Internet access hinders economic growth, educational opportunities, and access to information and services. Recent initiatives to ``connect the unconnected'' have either failed (project Loon and Aquila) or are characterized by exorbitant costs (Starlink and similar), which are unsustainable for users in developing regions. This paper proposes SONIC, a novel connectivity solution that repurposes a widespread communication infrastructure (AM/FM radio) to deliver access to pre-rendered webpages. Our rationale is threefold: 1) the radio network is widely accessible -- currently reaching 70% of the world -- even in developing countries, 2) unused frequencies are highly available, 3) while data over sound can be slow, when combined with the radio network, it takes advantage of its broadcast nature, efficiently reaching a large number of users. We have designed and built a proof of concept of SONIC which shows encouraging initial results. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_01738 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | SONIC: Connect the Unconnected via FM Radio & SMS Pandey, Ayush Asim, Rohail Mengal, Khalid Varvello, Matteo Zaki, Yasir Networking and Internet Architecture As of 2022, about 2.78 billion people in developing countries do not have access to the Internet. Lack of Internet access hinders economic growth, educational opportunities, and access to information and services. Recent initiatives to ``connect the unconnected'' have either failed (project Loon and Aquila) or are characterized by exorbitant costs (Starlink and similar), which are unsustainable for users in developing regions. This paper proposes SONIC, a novel connectivity solution that repurposes a widespread communication infrastructure (AM/FM radio) to deliver access to pre-rendered webpages. Our rationale is threefold: 1) the radio network is widely accessible -- currently reaching 70% of the world -- even in developing countries, 2) unused frequencies are highly available, 3) while data over sound can be slow, when combined with the radio network, it takes advantage of its broadcast nature, efficiently reaching a large number of users. We have designed and built a proof of concept of SONIC which shows encouraging initial results. |
| title | SONIC: Connect the Unconnected via FM Radio & SMS |
| topic | Networking and Internet Architecture |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.01738 |