Its really difficult trying to visualise how we connect wirelessly. For example if you are wandering around with your phone - what does the connection between your phone and something else wireless look like. Electromagnetic waves / radio waves have been described as looking like a 'slinky'. Apparently the waves 'ripple' across in straight lines - imagine kind of classic 'fish' shaped slinkies with little ripples getting bigger in the middle and then smaller, every time your phone connects !

I loved this visualisation - it is not showing electromagnetic waves in how phones or laptops connect wirelessly but it shows what natural magnetic waves might look (and sound - this was taken from real Mars recordings) like, as well. It was created by Semiconductor for a series, on a visit to Nasa labs 

2007. A Semiconductor film by Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt shot at the NASA Space Sciences Laboratory, UC Berkeley, California, USA.

Network properties - "Robust, reliable, redundant, â€˜Small pieces loosely joined’ – simple technology (social agents), Self-organizing, targetted, Capacity for growth, scalable But require: open access for data flow, autonomy at the unit level, feedback (back propogation) mechanism...Connections in networks - a diversity of entities, each acting autonomously, connected in an open network"1

How does this fit with mobile networks?

Useful intro stuff to mobile devices and mobile networks - how they work:  mobile phone guide (4 part series) and peering inside mobile networks

I don't see this as dots connected into one giant voice and data converged lump (although dots will be connected, the phone will be connecting to networks). Seamless roaming should be looking at the human perspective first - who does the roaming - the person or the phone ? Are we spending too much time developing phone mobility i.e. phones to connect to other phones or other devices and forgetting the more random human aspects - mobile networks may be replicating human physiology but that doesn't necessarily mean that it provides the ultimate connectivity? Should this all be about devices and not interaction in the environment or both and are mobile phone operators/manufacturers accounting for this - yes?

People and objects have attributes in their environment, (also Nicholas Nova) 

Present-Future mobile networking....femtocells, IMS, LTE, RF-MEMS and 4G , UIA.

Walls - Buildings - Location - femtocells;

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/10/28/cooper-cell-inventor-tech-wire-cx_ag_1028cooper.html

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1422585024/bclid1631239611/bctid1636629553 (video from Mobile Europe Femtocells 08)

NOTE: Ajit Jaokar's forthcoming blog series about roaming....

1. Downes S, The Future of Online Learning and Knowledge Networks, (September 29, 2004) Available at: http://www.downes.ca/presentation/93 

and Downes S, Principles of Distributed Representation (August 9th, 2005) Available at:  http://www.downes.ca/presentation/109