The goal of MAGNET Beyond is to take the MAGNET vision of personal services over Personal Networks a step closer to reality. The overall objective is to design, develop, demonstrate and validate the concept of a flexible Personal Network (PN) that supports resource-efficient, robust, ubiquitous personal services in a secure, heterogeneous networking environment for mobile users. Of paramount importance is the requirement that a PN will support its owner in all his/her private and professional activities and interactions, without being obtrusive and while safeguarding the security and privacy of the users and their data.

In PNs, users interact with various companion-, embedded-, or invisible computers not only in their close vicinity but potentially anywhere. They also need to interact with other persons having their own PNs, leading to group communication and federation of PNs to achieve particular tasks.

PNs comprise potentially all of a person’s devices capable of network connection in the real or virtual vicinity. This requires major extensions of the present Personal Area Network (PAN). PNs are configured in an ad hoc fashion, as the opportunity and the demand arise to support a person’s private and professional applications. These applications may run on a user’s personal devices, but also on foreign devices. PNs consist of communicating clusters of personal digital devices, possibly shared with others, and connected through various suitable communications means. Unlike PANs, with a limited geographically coverage, PNs have an unrestricted geographical span, and may incorporate devices into the personal environment regardless of their geographic location. In order to extend their reach, they need the support of infrastructure-based, and also ad-hoc networks.

6 broad Areas of Research

• Users, Pilot Services and Market
• PN Networking
• Security and privacy
• PAN-Optimised Air Interfaces
• Link level prototypes
• PN platforms