To quickly scale our database of Wi-Fi access points, we could add Wi-Fi
stumbling code to the Firefox desktop browser like that used in Fennec.
The problem is that desktop-stumbled APs would have no position because
desktop machines don't have GPS hardware and we don't want to GLS
positioning (because we do not want to inadvertently import GLS data
into MLS). Instead we could build a giant connected graph of neighboring
APs based on which APs are reported together in each geolocate server
request.
MLS could store these APs as a "dark" network without position data.
When a MozStumbler observes a dark AP's GPS position, the AP and its
neighbors (and transitively connected neighbors?) would be "lit up" with
position data. Alternatively, the desktop-stumbled APs could be stored
with inaccurate GeoIP positions (with a flag so an AP's GeoIP
observation would be overruled by a better GPS-stumbled observation of
the same AP).
When would Firefox stumble APs? Perhaps only when a website (like Google
Map) requests a position or even daily at a random time. Laptop
stumbling would be more useful than stationary desktop PCs.
I have a related idea for building an IP address map of the internet
using traceroute paths from Firefox browsers, but I'll save that
proposal for another day. :)
chris
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