{"id":1903,"date":"2007-01-16T16:41:41","date_gmt":"2007-01-16T21:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/?p=1903"},"modified":"2014-12-16T16:42:34","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T21:42:34","slug":"shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/","title":{"rendered":"Shuttle Bus System Goes Wireless"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hopkins<\/a>
An innovative mobile, wireless network created by computer scientists Herbert Rubens and David Holmer allows Hopkins Security to track the university\u2019s shuttle buses at all times. What\u2019s more, riders can now connect wirelessly to the Internet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Six years ago, then undergraduates Herbert Rubens \u201901 and David Holmer \u201901 teamed up to work on a problem that today seems simple. They wanted to connect their computers wirelessly to the Internet from any spot in Shaffer Hall. \u201cWe were trying to figure out how to extend the Internet from here to there without plugging into a wire in the wall,\u201d says Rubens.<\/p>\n

That small endeavor has led the team to breakthrough discoveries in the area of wireless, mobile computer technology. To date, Rubens and Holmer, now graduate students with the computer science department have published with their advisor, computer science Professor Baruch Awerbuch, 15 academic papers on wireless network engineering. What\u2019s more, the pair has set up one of the only known mobile, wireless networks in the nation, using the Johns Hopkins Shuttle Bus system.<\/p>\n

The project, called Wave Relay, is the culmination of six years of research on how to create a secure computer network using mobile, wireless routers, rather than stationary routers fixed on buildings. \u201cThis is their baby,\u201d says Awerbuch, \u201cMany universities are trying to create a network like this. But to our knowledge, no one has been successful yet. This is a very impressive product result.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, Rubens and Holmer placed mobile, wireless routers and GPS receivers on the roofs of 12 Hopkins shuttle buses. They also put stationary routers on about 50 Hopkins buildings. Each router, equipped with a proprietary software algorithm, creates a secure, wireless network across the campus.<\/p>\n

To envision the wireless network, think of a large, invisible, interconnected mesh across campus where data passes wirelessly, jumping or hopping from wireless router to wireless router, until it finally reaches a router physically connected to the Internet by a wire.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the network continues to work while the vans are moving in an everchanging urban environment. For example, the network is constantly calculating the most efficient way to send data, even if wireless signals are obstructed by buildings as the buses move.<\/p>\n

On the second floor of the New Engineering Building, Rubens demonstrates the network. Using Google Earth, Rubens views a map of the Hopkins campus on his computer with the real-time location of each shuttle bus. He calls the driver of the Stieff Shuttle on the phone. He asks her to drive across campus. On the computer, he watches the bus move. Then it starts driving down the road. With a click of his mouse, he sends the bus data files to test the network. It works.<\/p>\n

For Hopkins, the project has had two immediate payoffs: It currently allows Johns Hopkins Security to track the location and speed of all 12 shuttle buses at all times; and it also enables faculty and students riding on buses to connect wirelessly to the Internet without a phone or cable line.<\/p>\n

More importantly, note Rubens and Holmer, the project demonstrates the longterm potential of wireless networks created by mobile routers. This concept moves away from the conventional idea of using stationary routers to create wireless networks, such as those being set up by municipalities nationwide.<\/p>\n

Instead, this approach extends the invisible mesh network to the moving users, in this case, buses. This increases the interconnectivity of the network, strengthening and extending its reach. \u201cDealing with mobility is going to become a big issue in the future,\u201d says Rubens, \u201cespecially if you want to connect fire, police, and first responders across an entire city or municipality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Awerbuch says he is encouraged by the work of his students. \u201cOther people have written papers about this idea,\u201d he says. \u201cBut we don\u2019t know of other networks that show this performance in real life. In this sense, we are dealing with something potentially revolutionary.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six years ago, then undergraduates Herbert Rubens \u201901 and David Holmer \u201901 teamed up to work on a problem that today seems simple. They wanted to connect their computers wirelessly to the Internet from any spot in Shaffer Hall. \u201cWe were trying to figure out how to extend the Internet from here to there without…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-development","issue-winter-2007"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShuttle Bus System Goes Wireless - JHU Engineering Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shuttle Bus System Goes Wireless - JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Six years ago, then undergraduates Herbert Rubens \u201901 and David Holmer \u201901 teamed up to work on a problem that today seems simple. They wanted to connect their computers wirelessly to the Internet from any spot in Shaffer Hall. \u201cWe were trying to figure out how to extend the Internet from here to there without...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-01-16T21:41:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-12-16T21:42:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/20.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"804\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"565\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Abby Lattes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Abby Lattes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Abby Lattes\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0244393be370fbc3ead8ec26062e9742\"},\"headline\":\"Shuttle Bus System Goes Wireless\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-01-16T21:41:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-16T21:42:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":665,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/20.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Research & Development\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/\",\"name\":\"Shuttle Bus System Goes Wireless - JHU Engineering Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/20.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-01-16T21:41:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-16T21:42:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0244393be370fbc3ead8ec26062e9742\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/20.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/20.jpg\",\"width\":804,\"height\":565,\"caption\":\"An innovative mobile, wireless network created by computer scientists Herbert Rubens and David Holmer allows Hopkins Security to track the university\u2019s shuttle buses at all times. What\u2019s more, riders can now connect wirelessly to the Internet.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2007\\\/01\\\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shuttle Bus System Goes Wireless\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/\",\"name\":\"JHU Engineering Magazine\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0244393be370fbc3ead8ec26062e9742\",\"name\":\"Abby Lattes\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c56cb7af5427f847aa288542444ba9ff3d2107bf85dc6c6d44a4d1315608258d?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c56cb7af5427f847aa288542444ba9ff3d2107bf85dc6c6d44a4d1315608258d?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c56cb7af5427f847aa288542444ba9ff3d2107bf85dc6c6d44a4d1315608258d?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Abby Lattes\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Shuttle Bus System Goes Wireless - JHU Engineering Magazine","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Shuttle Bus System Goes Wireless - JHU Engineering Magazine","og_description":"Six years ago, then undergraduates Herbert Rubens \u201901 and David Holmer \u201901 teamed up to work on a problem that today seems simple. They wanted to connect their computers wirelessly to the Internet from any spot in Shaffer Hall. \u201cWe were trying to figure out how to extend the Internet from here to there without...","og_url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/","og_site_name":"JHU Engineering Magazine","article_published_time":"2007-01-16T21:41:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-12-16T21:42:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":804,"height":565,"url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/20.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Abby Lattes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Abby Lattes","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/"},"author":{"name":"Abby Lattes","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#\/schema\/person\/0244393be370fbc3ead8ec26062e9742"},"headline":"Shuttle Bus System Goes Wireless","datePublished":"2007-01-16T21:41:41+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-16T21:42:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/"},"wordCount":665,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/20.jpg","articleSection":["Research & Development"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/","name":"Shuttle Bus System Goes Wireless - JHU Engineering Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/20.jpg","datePublished":"2007-01-16T21:41:41+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-16T21:42:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#\/schema\/person\/0244393be370fbc3ead8ec26062e9742"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/20.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/20.jpg","width":804,"height":565,"caption":"An innovative mobile, wireless network created by computer scientists Herbert Rubens and David Holmer allows Hopkins Security to track the university\u2019s shuttle buses at all times. What\u2019s more, riders can now connect wirelessly to the Internet."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2007\/01\/shuttle-bus-system-goes-wireless\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shuttle Bus System Goes Wireless"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#website","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/","name":"JHU Engineering Magazine","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#\/schema\/person\/0244393be370fbc3ead8ec26062e9742","name":"Abby Lattes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c56cb7af5427f847aa288542444ba9ff3d2107bf85dc6c6d44a4d1315608258d?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c56cb7af5427f847aa288542444ba9ff3d2107bf85dc6c6d44a4d1315608258d?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c56cb7af5427f847aa288542444ba9ff3d2107bf85dc6c6d44a4d1315608258d?s=96&r=g","caption":"Abby Lattes"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1903"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2860,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903\/revisions\/2860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}