Introductory Questions
	Technology
	Performance
	Applications

Questions About SON Technology

Q: How is the SONbuddy network formed?
SONbuddy runs in 2 modes – Ad-hoc and infrastructure. If you are running SONbuddy in an ad-hoc mode, SONbuddy will scan the environment for devices that are SONbuddy enabled with the same network settings as yours. After discovering devices around it, SONbuddy will perform calculations to determine its neighbouring nodes that are multiple hops away.

If you are using SONbuddy in an infrastructure mode, you can either use a WLAN card to connect to an Access Point or LAN card to connect to the LAN. You will be able to discover devices that are located under the same subnet.

Q: How does the SONbuddy network heal?
When an intermediate device moves out of range, no longer available or degenerates due to low resources, low battery or an increase in hop counts, SONbuddy will transparently find an alternative path to maintain its connection to devices around it by selecting a best alternative route.

Q: How is the SONbuddy network optimized?
The SONbuddy route is kept optimal, reliable and maintained efficiently with minimal overhead and bandwidth consumption Device in a network would have various CPU, memory and power. Unavoidably in a dynamic network topology, devices may be powered off at any time or moving all the time. With SONbuddy, devices can discover each other instantly with an optimal balance between performance and overhead.

Q: What is multi-hopping and how does it work?
Multi-hopping is where devices are connected to other devices through intermediate devices. Each device acts as a router and helps forward data from its source to its destination.

Q: How can multi-hopping benefit my network?

1. Increase WIFI Range

2. Optimized Bandwidth and Throughput with traffic load balancing by routing around congestions

3. Multi-hop helps to overcome line-of-sight limitations

Q: How does SONbuddy work?
SONbuddy uses a revolutionary multi-hop routing technology that is self organizing, self healing, self discovering and self configuring. With SONbuddy, you can access the Internet, Intranet or other networks via other SONbuddy enabled devices even though your own device is unable to do it directly.

Q: Since the detection of each user is done in a server-less environment, how does SONbuddy make sure my identity or IP address does not clash with another user?
SONbuddy provides a UNIQUE NAME IDENTIFIER which is represented as a 4 digit number appended at the end of each user name. So even if another user in your network uses the same name as you, you are still uniquely identifiable.

A unique assignment of an IP in the 1.X.X.X/8 subnet for each SONbuddy username used.

Q: How is my network and data protected from outside threats?
In order to prevent denial of service and eavesdropping SONbuddy provides authentication and encryption to both the SONbuddy network discovery messages and user data. SONbuddy VPN is IPsec-based, and its encryption is based on the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)- Rijndael algorithm, which has been selected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as its next-generation encryption standard. The AES algorithm allows a new level of both security strength and speed that is not present in current VPN solutions, which suits the SONbuddy mobile ad hoc community-based network ideally.