Challenges of Mobile Ad-hoc Grids and Their Applications in E-healthcare

The growing availability of networked mobile devices has created a vast collective potential of unexploited resources. Grid computing with its model of coordinated resource sharing may provide a way to utilize such resources that are normally distributed throughout a mobile ad-hoc network. In this paper, we explore the challenging operation of Grid computing in mobile ad-hoc networks which are characterized by their unreliability of topologies and heterogeneity of mobile nodes. By integrating Grid functionalities with ad-hoc networking protocols, we envisage a lightweight architecture of mobile ad hoc Grids as the synergy between the resource sharing potential of Grid computing and the flexible, ubiquitous availability of mobile ad-hoc networks. We also discuss the general challenges in implementing Grid functionalities (e.g. service discovery, job scheduling and Quality of Service (QoS) provisioning) in the mobile environment and the specific issues arise from realistic application scenarios, i.e. the e-healthcare emergency.