Poster: VoIP System for Bicycle Platoons

For communications, in certain scenarios, the spatial proximity between nodes obviates the need for a cellular connection, and MANETs can provide better solutions. An example is audio communication in bicycle platoons: cyclists ride in a cluster, but may be spread over hundreds of meters and their spatial arrangement can vary, leading to volatile links. In this work, we showcase a novel implementation of VoIP that was tailored for a MANET composed of embedded devices installed in bicycles, operating over multicast. We describe the architecture of our system, which builds on off-the-shelf hardware and software, and list the parameter values that result in reasonable audio quality. Preliminary results show that high packet delivery ratios (above 70%) can be attained with our system in platoon-riding conditions, despite no link (or network) retransmissions.