Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wireless gets connected

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 04:08:09 -0500

01/26/04; Vol. 18 No. 20
Wireless gets connected
By BRAD GRIMES

Cities eye mesh networks for market
communications

There is a common misconception that
wireless networks are, well, wireless. In fact,
wireless networks are very wired. All those
access points that transmit radio signals to
and from mobile workers are connected to a
wired network using -- you guessed it --
wires. And those fixed backhauls, as they're
called, can be a significant hindrance to
wireless network adoption.

"When you're building a wireless hot zone
and covering a campus or metro area, these
client-server, single-access point cells that
backhaul everything over the Internet can be
costly to deploy," said Ian McPherson,
principal analyst at the Wireless Data
Research Group in San Mateo, Calif.
Stringing wires to dozens of access points is
no small task, he said.

Bert Williams, vice president of marketing for
Tropos Networks Inc., a mesh networking
company in San Mateo, Calif., estimated that
90 percent of the cost of a conventional WiFi
network comes from the wired backhaul
infrastructure.

Consequently, getting rid of wired backhauls
is seen as a big step toward increasing
deployment of wireless networks at
government agencies.

Enter mesh networking, a technology that
allows wireless access points to transmit
data through one another, instead of through
wired backhauls, as information is relayed to
the main network.

"With a mesh network, you can reduce
capital expenditures by 80 percent," Williams
said.

What's more, wireless mesh networks offer
other potential benefits, said officials from
several wireless companies. They can give
organizations better coverage for their
money, so more workers can use the
network over a wider area.

They're also more reliable than typical
wireless networks, because they can
re-route information if an access point
malfunctions. Certain mesh networking
technologies enable communications in
buildings or environments where
interference or physical impediments make
wireless communications impossible.

Companies such as Tropos, MeshNetworks
Inc. and Ember Corp. are applying the
mesh-network concept to wireless networks
for public safety, emergency response and
other applications. Williams and other
executives tagged the market for mesh
networks in the public safety sector at more
than $1 billion.

FROM DARPA TO FIRST RESPONDERS

Mesh networking has its roots in the
Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency, where researchers developed
self-organizing, wireless, peer-to-peer
networks for the battlefield. In a wireless
mesh network, access points and wireless
devices organize themselves into an ad hoc network, communicating with
each other to determine the fastest way to send data to the wired
network. The network still needs a backhaul, but not to every access
point.

Wireless mesh networks are much like the Internet itself, where data
hops from router to router looking for the shortest available path to
the requested server. Mesh companies develop routing protocols that help
wireless access points and routers do the same thing. These protocols
take into account network traffic, throughput, signal-to-noise ratios
and various forms of interference, such as passing trucks and cordless
phones.

Whereas the Defense Department was interested in mesh networking to get
around radar jamming devices and to ensure reliable communications,
today's users look at the technology as a way to build wireless networks
for public safety agencies.
In September, Tropos installed a wireless mesh network based on 802.11b
WiFi standards for the San Mateo, Calif., Police Department. The network
covered an outdoor area roughly two square miles in the city's downtown
section. Officers carry WiFi-enabled notebooks in their cars, and as
long as they're within range of the wireless hot zone, they can access
networked resources, such as a countywide intranet that connects to the
Amber Alert system and other databases.

San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer said the Tropos network helps
officers solve crimes more quickly.
The San Mateo network comprises nearly 40 access points, which is more
than usual, Williams said.  Because the police department didn't want to
outfit squad cars with external antennae, Tropos had to install extra
access points to provide strong signals throughout the hot zone. Most of
the points are mounted on street lights, where they draw the power they
need.
Williams said that Tropos uses multiple layers of security and
authentication to protect its mesh networks, and recommends that
agencies use virtual private networking to establish secure
communications. The San Mateo Police Department uses VPN technology from
Seattle-based NetMotion Wireless Inc.

MeshNetworks of Maitland, Fla., takes a slightly different approach to
wireless mesh networking. The basic peer-to-peer topology is the same,
but whereas Tropos bases its solutions on WiFi standards, MeshNetworks
uses a proprietary technology that pulls end user devices into the
network. Instead of only routing data from access point to access point,
a MeshNetworks solution turns wireless-enabled PDAs, notebooks or other
devices into network nodes.

"In our ad hoc network, the devices are the network," said Peter
Stanforth, chief technology officer at MeshNetworks.
MeshNetworks' technology, which is sold through systems integrators and
value-added resellers, is aimed at the public safety market, especially
for first response. For instance, when firefighters enter a building,
their wireless radios can become a self-contained network that relays
data to one another and eventually out of the building.

NexGen City LP is building a wireless solution for the city of Garland,
Texas, based on MeshNetworks technology. Working with Bethesda,
Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp., NexGen City plans to deploy 400 fixed
access points and 200 mesh-enabled devices to create a wireless network
covering 60 square miles.

Richard Dwelle, president of Richardson, Texas-based NexGen City, said
he expects Garland's network to pay for itself in just one year.

Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola Inc. is particularly interested in the
MeshNetworks approach as a way to protect emergency response teams.

"The promise of mesh networking is to give the technology to first
responders, who go into buildings where there is poor or no coverage,"
said Gary Grube, chief technology officer of Motorola's government
sector.

With enough bandwidth, Grube said public safety officials could use mesh
networking to track firefighters and emergency workers as they move
through a building. Gauging location is possible because each
responder's wireless device acts as a node on the network.

"That information can be routed wirelessly to the captain on the street,
who has a map of the building on his notebook computer," Grube said.

THE INTEGRATOR MARKET
No matter which flavor of mesh networking agencies adopt, mesh companies
said systems integrators are critical to their deployment.

"We look to work with systems integrators for installation and companion
products," Williams said. "We need to make sure our products are
integrated with the agency's existing network, and most public safety
groups require additional solutions, such as VPNs."

Stanforth said MeshNetworks partners with integrators such as Annapolis,
Md.-based Arinc Inc. and Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM Global Services.

Although experts aren't sure when wireless networking will become
widespread, they agree that mesh networking will play an important role
in adoption by the government.

"The mesh architecture is here to stay," Grube said. "Over time, it will
help people fine-tune the economics of wireless coverage."

Staff Writer Brad Grimes can be reached at [email-masked].

http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/18_20/emerging-tech/22597-1.html

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