The MOMENT Lab focuses on how computer networks (e.g., the Internet, cellular networks) are built, measured, and evaluated. The guiding principles of our research have been to understand the performance and limitations of deployed networks, and to use that understanding to develop novel network technologies and solutions that improve Internet availability, quality, and, most recently, affordability. This has included the development of technologies to expand access, as well as the characterization of Internet coverage and quality to determine how the Internet performs in disparate locations. Historically, our has work has most often been in the context of wireless and mobile networks, beginning with ad hoc and mesh networks, then WiFi, and then satellite and cellular. These networks are intellectually interesting in part because of their complexity, which arises from the interplay of wireless signal propagation, end-user mobility, and constraints on device and battery power. They also hold great promise for addressing Internet access inequities, given their lower deployment cost and broader coverage footprint relative to wired solutions. More recently, however, we have include fixed wired networks in our research.
In the last 15 years, we have applied our expertise to solving problems that address Internet access inequities, both in the U.S. and in developing regions worldwide. In the U.S., this work has focused on Tribal reservations, as well as rural and low income urban regions. Internationally, our group has performed field work in Zambia, South Africa, Mongolia, Turkey, Guatemala, and the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan. Field work has included extensive data collection and network analysis, to understand how networks in different contexts are used and how well they perform. We use the results of these analyses to motivate the solutions we put forth for improving the user experience and making the Internet more available and usable in these contexts.
Our current research focuses on Internet accessibility, quality and affordability. Specifically, one of our goals is to identify where under- and unserved Internet users, regions and community anchor institutions (e.g. libraries, schools, community centers) are located across the U.S., and where Internet access is present but unaffordable. This is difficult to establish because the FCC’s coverage data is supplied directly by ISPs and, as our work and that of others has demonstrated, substantially overstates both availability and quality. Compounding this problem, datasets reflecting access costs and affordability are largely unavailable. As a result, our recent work pursues two related questions: what is the actual Internet performance that end users (of fixed, fixed wireless and cellular networks) receive, and what are the pricing trends for residential broadband plans, particularly with respect to affordability? Our publications page highlights our recent findings, while the Broadband-plan Querying Tool webpage describes one of our key recent group outputs.
Finally, Dr. Belding is the co-developer of the AODV routing protocol, which is now a part of the Zigbee standard and on which part of the IEEE 802.11s standard is based. The original AODV publication in WMCSA'99 received the 2018 SigMobile Test-of-Time award. As of September 2026, Google Scholar reports that the paper has been cited approximately 30,000 times.
Our work has enabled many terrific partnerships, and we have been fortunate to obtain funding from a variety of sources. Our current and/or recent research partners and/or funders include:
- the National Science Foundation
- Ookla for Good
- California Public Utilities Commission
Our current and prior funders and collaborators include:
- the US State Department
- the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- ViaSat
- Rockefeller Foundation
- Pew Research
- Comcast
- the Tribal Digital Village (TDV) Network, a Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association program, in San Diego county
- Nokia
- Intel
- IBM Research
- Commonwealth of Virginia
- Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC)
We are very appreciative of all the financial support and intellectual collaboration of our partners!
