A gateway provides duplex-directional, multimedia ad hoc mesh networking, peer-to-peer direct communications, power optimization, dynamic configuration, and data management, while operating within various devices and network topologies. A multitasking virtual machine monitor for mobile networked devices, that is capable of functional expandability and portability to various operating environments, interoperability with a variety of operating systems, the Gateway Control System (GCS) performs functional capabilities in both a local and a networked topology using local and remote hardware and software. Software within the GCS is partitioned into sequentially, autonomous code, referred to herein as “modules,” each module being configured to communicate with hardware and other gateway modules. Collectively, all gateway modules are referred to herein as the gateway stack (GS). Each member of the GS can be turned on or off, downloaded from a remote site, and dynamically configured.