Computer engineer Prithwish Basu on ad hoc radio networks

Prithwish Basu has been interested in how people use technology to communicate since he was an undergrad at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. Since then, the 2006 TR35 winner has networked everything from robots to parking meters. Basu recently gave us a primer on his specialty: “ad hoc” networks–robust, low-power wireless networks that don’t require a base station. He talked us through what these networks are, roughly how they work, and some of the applications they’re best suited for.