FAQ: Other Uses for the FrogNet

A stand-alone FrogNet is a TCP/IP Class C network that does not require an upstream connection.  In other words, it is a network that you can create and connect your devices to, literally anywhere you need.  Within the network, name services work as expected (e.g., videoserver.mydomain). Potential use cases for a stand-alone FrogNet include:

A simple network for a small group that works, even without Internet access.

• Local security (cameras, sensors, etc.), with optional cloud monitoring and control
• Local sensor monitoring and control (gardens, weather, vibration, sound), with optional cloud access
• Local secure offline storage for documents and media, with optional cloud access
• Local social media and communications services, with optional cloud capabilities
• The integration of AI with information from multiple sensors monitoring an individual's physical and mental health could enable extended independent living.  Injuries and illnesses would be detected quickly, and issues would be addressed by applying evaluation and escalation policies in real-time. 
• AI integration of information from multiple sensors monitoring a home detention subject would make it much more difficult to violate the rules, without requiring additional human monitors

One of the beautiful things about FrogNets is that they're as mobile as you need them to be.  A FrogNet built from a Raspberry Pi and a small but powerful travel router, utilizing either solar or battery power, will easily fit into a hardened package that can be dropped, carried in a backpack, or mounted on a drone.  

A single FrogNet working in a mobile capacity could:

• Provide communications, including video, between field team members
• Manage mobile sensor suites that could perform real-time analysis using live data 
• Integrate live data from multiple medical devices, adjusting patient care in real-time, while the patient is in transit
• Provide a temporary communications capability to remote locations

FrogNets are great stand-alone, but they are *awesome* when combined into a FrogNet Network.  In this capacity, FrogNets can cover complex topologies that are impossible, or at least extremely difficult, to implement using traditional methodologies.  Because FrogNets aren't restricted to WiFi communications, wires can be run between FrogNets to ensure fast and secure communication between them, with individual FrogNets providing WiFi and/or hardwired communication for devices.

A static FrogNet Network could:

• Provide network connectivity at points where WiFi may not reach, or, using a hardwired connection between FrogNets, where there are areas of strong WiFi interference
• Provide a closed, off-grid intranet with services and websites and even more cool stuff (neighborhood Intranet, city infrastructure, business privacy)
• Provide Internet access to an apartment building without costing an arm and a leg

Just as static FrogNet networks are created by joining static FrogNets together, mobile FrogNets can join to create mobile, ad-hoc FrogNet networks.  If mobile FrogNet Networks are created, the members of all connected networks will be able to reach any host on any network by name.  Within this combined network, individuals will be able to:

• Share or merge sensor data
• Share GPS locations (if enabled)
• Text, audio, and video chat

The most interesting use cases for a mobile FrogNet combining with static are around Search and Rescue and disaster recovery

Some examples:

• In a disaster area, a static FrogNet network could be brought online to serve the needs of the Emergency Operations Center, and to provide coordinated support for the neighborhoods impacted.  Search teams could be deployed with vibration, sound, and other sensors designed to seek life.  The mobile team can deploy the network, collect the data, then either leave the network or move to a new location
• A reconnaissance drone equipped with a mobile FrogNet that includes a (potentially disposable) sensor suite could be sent out on a fixed route.  When it returned, it would automatically rejoin the static network and upload its data to the global datastore.

Long-distance FrogNets are da bomb.  Covering very long distances with high-speed, secure communications is possible.  Wireless routers can be used for distances up to a kilometer or so, after which you can switch to wired Ethernet or fiber.  

If you're using WiFi, you're broadcasting an SSID.  Devices located between the two endpoints that have a line-of-sight to that SSID, including cameras, can join the network.