View Proposal
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Proposer
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Zi Hau Chin
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Title
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MeshLink: An Adaptive Peer-to-Peer Communication Platform with Bluetooth Mesh, Internet Relay, and Secure WebRTC Calling
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Goal
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To design, implement, and evaluate a secure peer-to-peer communication platform that automatically selects between Bluetooth, local-network, and internet-based transport while supporting wallet-authenticated identities, encrypted text messaging, offline delivery, and optional voice communication.
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Description
- Most messaging and calling applications depend on central servers for user discovery, message routing, storage, signalling, and media relay. When internet connectivity is unavailable, such applications may become unusable even when the users are physically close to one another.
Bluetooth communication allows nearby devices to discover and communicate with each other without internet access. However, Bluetooth has limited range and bandwidth and is not appropriate for high-quality real-time video transmission. WebRTC provides real-time peer-to-peer audio, video, and data communication over internet or local-network connections. It also supports encrypted media communication and direct connections between peers when network conditions permit.
WebRTC still requires a mechanism to exchange connection information. It uses Session Description Protocol offers and answers, ICE candidates, and connectivity checks. STUN helps peers discover their public network addresses, while TURN relays traffic when a direct connection cannot be established. Consequently, peer-to-peer calling may still require lightweight signalling and relay infrastructure even when media normally travels directly between users.
MeshLink will combine these communication methods in one application:
>Bluetooth for nearby text messaging without internet
>Local-network or internet-based peer-to-peer text messaging
>WebRTC for compulsory voice and video calls
>Store-and-forward delivery when the receiving user is temporarily unavailable
>Automatic transport selection according to connectivity and peer availability
-How accurately can the application select the most suitable transport?
-Can messages move between Bluetooth and internet transport without duplication or loss?
-What are the latency, reliability, energy, and privacy trade-offs among Bluetooth, local Wi-Fi, and internet-based P2P communication?
-How effectively does store-and-forward delivery operate under intermittent connectivity?
-How does a relay-assisted P2P system compare with a centralised messaging server?
-Can calls recover when the user moves between networks?
Develop an algorithm that automatically switches between:
>Bluetooth
>Wi-Fi Direct
>Internet P2P
>Relay-assisted delivery
...based on:
-Availability
-Latency
-Reliability
-Message size
-Energy consumption
-Relay requirement
-Security state
-Recent connection history
The important research question is whether a message can survive a change of transport without duplication, loss, or reordering.
- Resources
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Flutter webrtc, webrtc, peerdart, bitchat, BChat-chat-via-bluetooth, coturn
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Background
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Mobile or cross-platform application development; Computer networks and peer-to-peer communication; Bluetooth Low Energy and wireless communication; Public-key cryptography and secure messaging; WebRTC, WebSockets, or real-time application development
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Url
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Difficulty Level
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Challenging
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Ethical Approval
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None
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Number Of Students
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1
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Supervisor
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Zi Hau Chin
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Keywords
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peer-to-peer messaging, bluetooth low energy, webrtc, voice over ip (voip), video calling, adaptive transport, transport handover, offline messaging, store-and-forward, nat traversal, end-to-end encryption, mobile networking, delay-tolerant communication
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Degrees
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Bachelor of Science in Computing Science