With the new MeshKit, apps can now communicate even without a cellular signal

Each time you hit send after keying in chat message a series of events happens. The text along with your emojis gets digitised, then converted into a stream of digital packets that whiz through the cellular or WiFi network your device is connected to before making its way to the receiver who may be across the room or the other side of the globe. All of this is facilitated by a fabric that connects today’s devices -- the all-pervasive mobile data network. But there are instances -- in the absence of this network -- when critical communications can grind to a standstill. From war-torn regions to riot-hit situations where cellular service may be intermittent or absent, the lack of the ability to communicate can be devastating. A company called Open Garden has been working on a technology to alleviate this.

They are known for an instant messaging app called FireChat, with the unique ability of enabling users to exchange messages even if they don’t have access to a public cellular network. At the MWC event in Barcelona recently, the company announced available of a software development kit called MeshKit that is based on the technology behind FireChat, aimed at enabling offline communication across several other mobile apps.

How does it work?

It’s interesting to note that one of the Open Garden founders happens to be one of the brains behind the peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol that powers BitTorrent. MeshKit is built on this very concept of peer-to-peer mesh connectivity, a networking technology that creates a mesh of connected users by only utilizing each device’s Bluetooth or WiFi. It’s a lot like sending a file to your friend via Bluetooth, but on a larger scale. The technology builds a ‘local’ web of devices using their available wireless connectivity, enabling users to transmit to a person standing across them, or to a user among a crowd of thousands (think rock concerts to political rallies) whose devices use this standard.

The implications of this technology are interesting -- if any one device in the mesh happens to be connected to the Web, all other devices will automatically have Internet access. This enables the mesh-connected users to utilize cloud-based services like email or online documents even if they their devices do not have access to the Internet.

Even when all devices are disconnected from the Internet, they can among themselves send messages, files, even consume media like music and movies. It can also be used as a more efficient way to keep apps and devices updated -- if any one user receives an new version, it can be automatically pushed to all users in the mesh.

How will it be used?

The technology could be used by several manner of app developers, to help enable service to users who are offline or don’t have access to a data network. It could also help reduce costs, where users needn’t utilize their cellular data plan for common mobile services.

It could be implemented in apps such as media players, to distribute content to offline uses, for sourcing real-time news from citizens, and especially in rural areas where cellular connectivity isn’t always a given. In instance so strike, widespread use of such apps could aid in reducing the load on cellular networks that may be required for more critical services.

MeshKit works with Android and iOS, with the built-in ability to ‘bounce’ messages off users and deliver alerts when other users are nearby, all of this is done transparently without having to fiddle with wireless pairing settings. The technology is also said to utilize lesser power compared to 3G or 4G data usage, and has built-in end-to-end encryption for private messages and cryptographic authentication for all participants on the network.

The proliferation of such offline peer-to-peer networks could complement regular mobile data networks in the grassroots adoption of digital services, especially in high-potential mobile markets like India.