Emerging Issues in Researching Community-Based Wlans

Abstract

Among the different types of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), those that are deployed and operated by a community of users are emerging as a challenging research domain. These networks, best referred to as Community-Based WLANs (or simply wireless communities), evolve on a grassroots basis and, thus, present a number of theoretical and practical considerations that challenge their development and diffusion. This paper employs a systematic literature review approach to identify and categorize a series of emerging research issues in the area of community-based WLANs. Three domains of research challenges are postulated: technology, business/economic, and social/individual. The latter domain views the individual as the focal point in Community-based WLANs research and contends that individual motivation, behavior, and interactions directly impact the growth potential of wireless communities. Drawing on this insight, the paper sets forth a novel research design for shedding light on the motivational and behavioral issues that arise in wireless communities.

• Wireless Local Area Networks
• Community-based WLANs
• motivation
• game theory