The Extreme Workshop on Communication (ExtremeCom) intends to bring together researchers and practitioners in areas related to challenged networks in order to gain experience and insight into the challenges that such environments pose for the network and the users. Such networks include delay and disruption tolerant networks, sparse sensor networks, power-efficient networking, as well as other networking paradigms for rural and remote areas.

We aim to do this through a real-life experience in the Indian Himalayan region. Dharamsala, where the workshop will take place, is a well-frequented and loved destination for visitors. This mountainous town presents a unique mix of cultures and spiritual traditions and is also a starting point to a number of spectacular trekking trails. Dharamsala is also the place where Dharamsala Community Network came to life in February 2005, following the deregulation of WiFi for outdoor use in India. Built and operated by AirJaldi, a social enterprise, the network grew from 8 campuses in 2005 to over 2,000 computers spread in campuses, offices and homes within a radius of 70km in and around Dharamsala. AirJaldi is building additional networks in other rural locations in India. The ExtremeCom 2010 workshop is planned around AirJaldi's Dharamsala network's locations and facilities, thereby giving participants a great opportunity to be involved in a real-life network deployment.

The workshop will start with a four-day field trip into the mountain regions around Dharamsala. During this time, participants will be given the opportunity to hike along the trails in the mountains, visit local villages and Tibetan settlements and meet the local population and users of the network. The combination of trekking and meetings will give participants a better idea of both the technical and user requirements of the network, as well as provide opportunities for informal research discussions between the participants.

Participants who have their own solutions for scenarios like this will also, to as great an extent as possible, be encouraged to test and demonstrate it within this environment. We are currently planning the mountain-based part of the workshop and some details are subject to change. During the field trip, participants will be given the chance to work with AirJaldi to set up more relays, for example in schools along the hiking trail (details to be provided at a later stage).

Upon reaching the end of the hike, we will conduct a two-day technical session in a more traditional conference venue with paper presentations and demos. The focus will still be on informal research discussions, with the hope that the recent field experience they have gone through together will give participants the ability to view and discuss the topics presented with additional insights.

Authors should submit a 6-page paper outlining ideas and visions about the topics of the workshop or alternatively a 2-page proposal for a demo to be shown during the workshop. Visionary and thought-provoking papers that are likely to generate much discussion during the workshop are especially solicited. The aim of the workshop is to maintain an informal environment, where new research ideas can be discussed and developed.

Topics for the workshop include, but are not limited to:
* Testbeds for large-scale sustainable testing of DTN systems
* Real deployments of networks in extreme environments
* Business and service models for networks in rural, remote, and other
challenging environments
* User experience research
* Delay tolerant networking
* Low-power and intermittent-power protocols
* Mechanisms for emergency and urgent communications
* Networked applications and services

Due to logistics and the need to conduct the workshop in harmony with the local population and the environment, the number of participants may be limited. Priority will be given to authors of papers.


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Important dates
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Submission deadline: April 30, 2010
Notification of acceptance: May 30, 2010
Registration deadline: June 30, 2010
Workshop dates: September 4-10, 2010

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Organizers
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General co-chairs:
Anders Lindgren, Swedish Institute of Computer Science, Sweden
Pan Hui, Deutsche Telekom Laboratories and TU Berlin, Germany

Hosted by:
airJaldi.org

Local arrangements chair:
Michael Ginguld, AirJaldi, India

Web chair:
Fehmi Ben Abdesslem, University of St. Andrews, UK

Technical Program Committee:
Bengt Ahlgren, Swedish Insitute of Computer Science, Sweden
Elizabeth M. Belding, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
Jon Crowcroft, University of Cambridge, UK
Elwyn Davies, Folly Consulting, UK
Avri Doria, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden
Kevin Fall, Intel Research Berkeley, USA
Stephen Farrell, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Michael Ginguld, AirJaldi, India
Tristan Henderson, University of St. Andrews, UK
S. Keshav, University of Waterloo, Canada
Cecilia Mascolo, University of Cambridge, UK
Jörg Ott, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
Aaditeshwar Seth, IIT Delhi, India

Steering Committee:
Jon Crowcroft, University of Cambridge, UK
Avri Doria, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden
Tristan Henderson, University of St. Andrews, UK
Pan Hui, Deutsche Telekom Laboratories and TU Berlin, Germany
Anders Lindgren, Swedish Institute of Computer Science, Sweden