Socially based station navigation

1. A method of socially-based station navigation comprising:

receiving station selection information from each of a plurality of mobile nodes within a mobile ad-hoc network, wherein station selection information comprises, for each mobile node, a station to which the mobile node is tuned;

identifying each station from the received station selection information;

for each station, determining a measure of popularity according to a number of mobile nodes, from the plurality of mobile nodes, tuned to the station; and

outputting a list specifying at least one of the stations and the measure of popularity of each station on the list.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting a station from the list; and

tuning a broadcast media receiver to the selected station.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the selected station is the station from the list having a highest measure of popularity.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising tuning the broadcast media receiver to a different station from the list according to the measures of popularity.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting a first station from the list; and

identifying each mobile node tuned to the first station as a preferred mobile node, wherein determining a measure of popularity comprises increasing the measure of popularity for a second station when a preferred mobile node is tuned to the second station.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting a first station from the list; and

identifying each mobile node tuned to the first station as a preferred mobile node, wherein determining a measure of popularity comprises increasing the measure of popularity for a second station when a preferred mobile node has stored the second station as a preset.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, responsive to a user request, automatically tuning a broadcast media receiver to the station having the highest measure of popularity.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising restricting the mobile nodes from which station selection information is considered to only those mobile nodes within a predetermined number of hops.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting station selection information to at least one other mobile node in the mobile ad hoc network.

10. A system for socially-based station navigation comprising:

a wireless transceiver receiving station selection information from each of a plurality of mobile nodes within a mobile ad-hoc network;

a controller identifying stations to which the plurality of mobile nodes are tuned from the station selection information, determining a measure of popularity for the stations, and outputting a list specifying at least one station and the measure of popularity of each station on the list; and

a broadcast media receiver tuning to one of the stations identified from the station selection information.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the broadcast media receiver tunes to a station having a highest measure of popularity from the list of stations.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the broadcast media receiver tunes to a different station from the list according to the measures of popularity.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein a first station is selected from the list, wherein the controller identifies each mobile node tuned to the first station as a preferred mobile node and determines a measure of popularity for a second station, at least in part, according to whether a preferred mobile node is tuned to the second station.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein a first station is selected from the list, wherein the controller identifies each mobile node tuned to the first station as a preferred mobile node and determines a measure of popularity for a second station, at least in part, according to whether the preferred mobile node has stored the second station as a preset.