Transcript The Brisbane Mesh Project

The Brisbane Mesh Project
Towards a wireless metropolitan
area network
David Leonard
Brisbane Mesh Project
Overview
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The dream
Wireless technology
Australian telecommunications law
Existing WMANs
Brisbane Mesh
Participating
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About me
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David Leonard
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PhD student at CSEE, UQ
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adaptive software components
Background
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[email protected]
Some networking
Some telecomm engineering theory
I live in Birkdale, near Manly
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The dream
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A data network with the following properties:
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Free use
Decent bandwidth
At my house
Wireline solutions:
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Optus/Telstra cable ($$$)
UQ/ITS student dial-in (56kb/s +rental)
College net; CSEE labs
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Wireless technology
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Some radio frequencies are free to use
Transceivers available
IEEE802.11b 11Mb/s (2.4GHz)
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Lucent Orinoco (WaveLAN)
Cisco Aironet
Proxim, Zoomtel, etc.
IEEE802.11a 56Mb/s (5GHz)
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Cisco/Radiata (available early 2002?)
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Link lengths
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Expect >2km using directional antennae
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2.4GHz signal affected by:
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40km links have been reported!
antenna quality
vegetation
rain
microwave ovens
Max 4W EIRP (cf. 1kW oven)
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Community network
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Peer structure  mesh
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Participants
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Pay for and own their own gear
Agree to facilitate new links
Agree to carry traffic best-effort
Hosts registries (geo. location)
Compare with the early internet(s)
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Australian law
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I am not a lawyer
Australian Communication Authority
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ACA says: can use for free, when:
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Telecommunications Act (1997)
2.4GHz and 5GHz bands ‘unlicensed’ since 1996
You own your network unit; and
Your network unit supplies carriage services to the
public (i.e. routes); and
Your network unit is used for the sole purpose of
carriage services on a non-commercial basis.
Commercial carrier licence ~$104 p.a.
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Unresolved issues
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Connecting mesh to internet? (short term)
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Connecting mesh to internet? (long term)
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Peering (route table size?)
Who owns the link?
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AARNet? 
ISP agreements (e.g. cable); shared billing?
Liability; abuse. Bandwidth shaping; priority
Omni-directional antennae?
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Growth, interference, limited channels (cellular
layout?)
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Some existing WMANs
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Non-commercial
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x.net.au (Adelaide)
air.net.au (Canberra, Melbourne, …)
consume.net (London)
MediaPoli (Helsinki)
BAWUG (San Francisco)
Commercial
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Ricochet (USA)
RadioWan (Perth)
AirNet (Adelaide)
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Basic requirements
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Siting
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Dedicated router
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Line of sight is a must
e.g. always-on PC
Capital ($$$)
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To buy card, antenna etc.
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Costs
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Network cards
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Antennae
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22Mb/s: $300
2Mb/s: $85, or check ebay
Professional 20dBi: $180
D.I.Y. 18dBi: $50
Cable
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Good quality: $7/m
co-located: $0
Depends on signal strength (i.e. link distance)
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Can you help?
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“The Mesh needs You”
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Need experts
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Need participants
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Radiocomms
Routing
Legal
to reach critical mass
Need a champion/s; propaganda machine
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My next steps (To do)
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Gauge interest
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Set up a node database
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Mailing list: [email protected]
http://www.csee.uq.edu.au/~leonard/mesh
Mapping tool
Propagation modelling
Setting up CSEE node
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on GPS rooftop at Univ Qld
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Other projects
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Solar-powered routers
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Router parts donation pool
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Old 386s will work well with ISA cradles
Topography web site
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To put in trees, on friends’ rooves
Find nearest node; direction, distance
In-car nodes? Mobile IP?
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Summary
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Public access WMAN has potential of
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Low cost, decent bandwidth, at home
Some challenges
Appeal for participation
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