JUNE 2006SYMPOSIUM ON DIGITAL FABRICATION PRETORIA MESH NETWORKING LABORATORY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS...

JUNE 2006 SYMPOSIUM ON DIGITAL FABRICATION PRETORIA

MESH NETWORKING

LABORATORY OF TELECOMMUNICATION

S

George SergiadisAssociate Professor

[email protected]

ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI GREECE

SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS


Characteristics of the mesh networks

• Wireless by definition, infrastructure independent

• Formed in a spontaneous way, few to plan

• New nodes become routers to expand the network, scalable system

• Not only for internet access


THE FAB LAB SCOPE


A TYPICAL urban MESH

Source: Microsoft Research


The announced Urban Mesh

A Spanish firm is to sell subsidized routers as part of a plan to turn domestic wi-fi networks into public hotspots. Fon will sell wi-fi routers, which allow people to surf the net wirelessly, for $5 The company, which has financial backing from Google and Skype, aims to create public wi-fi networks street by street across the US and Europe.

Tuesday, 27 June 2006


“Africa Calling” – a highway to follow

The number of mobile subscribers in 30 sub-Saharan African countries, not including South Africa, rose from zero in 1994 to more than 82 million in late

2004


Rural mesh model - main components

Hardware:•Routers•Antennas, cables•Power supplies - Solar •Structural solutions

Software:•Networking and dynamic multihop routing•QOS control•Management•Security and privacy


Routers

• Many vendors• Many low cost solutions from

25 to 60 US $, but• Most of them are not suitable

for efficient rural meshes with few gateway points


Mesh network Protocols

• Dynamic rerouting

• Efficient package management

• Additional services


Antennas

Price: $349.90


Fab Lab mesh network approach


Routers on trial

• Roofnet, an unplanned, multiroute mesh network developed at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory


Fab Lab WiFi Antenna Projects

Target:

• Very low cost, 1 or 2 US $

• Low manufacturing sensitivity

• Fab Lab easily reproducible, by unskilled “Fablabers”, using the Fab Lab tools


Fab Lab WiFi Antenna Projects

Glass Antennas:

1. Quasi-isotropic antennas, mostly for interior use

2. Arrays for higher gain, for internal or low distance external use

3. Corner reflector antennas for point to point longer distance links


Glass Antenna “Ingredients”

• Window Glass• Self adhesive cooper• CAD file• Flexible low-loss cable, or no

cable


“Isotropic” Antennas

Gain 3 dbi


Higher gain Arrays

Directivity 1200 H / 300 V- Gain 9 dbi


Corner reflector antennas

Directivity 600 H / 300 V - Gain 12 dbi


Very high gain systems New approaches

• Planar structure • Gain >20 dbi• Low cost – glass dielectric• Higher frequencies ( 5 GHz)


Very high gain systems New approaches

Planar structure - Gain >20 dbi


Potential contribution of the mesh networks, especially in

developing countries

• In business prosperity

• In employment

• In information spread

• In medical services

• In distance learning

• In natural disaster management

• Even in politics and democracy protection


Conclusions

• Fab Lab reduces dramatically the cost of the mesh networking by producing the most expensive components, instead of buying them

• Fab Lab plans to design and manufacture also other expensive parts of the supporting infrastructure, by implementing its collective know-how


Thank you for your attention

LABORATORY OF TELECOMMUNICATION

S

George SergiadisAssociate Professor

[email protected]

ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI GREECE

SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

JUNE 2006SYMPOSIUM ON DIGITAL FABRICATION PRETORIA MESH NETWORKING LABORATORY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS...

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