Hybrid peer-to-peer model in proximity applications

The recent emergence of handheld devices and wireless networks has implied an exponential increase of terminals users. So, today, service providers have to propose new applications adapted to mobile environments. In this paper, we propose and describe a new class of distributed applications called the proximity applications. In such applications, two or more handheld devices, physically close to each other, can communicate and exchange data in a secure way. Proximity applications rely on the use of both different mobile devices and heterogeneous wireless networks. Thus, these applications need a high degree of flexibility, for an easy and rapid application development. In this context, our purpose is to study the interest of the Hybrid Peer-To-Peer (P2P) architecture model use specially for the extensibility, the fault-tolerance management and the scalability of proximity applications. Moreover, thanks to this model, proximity applications can easily face to the heterogeneity of devices and networks.