With multiple technologies promising all the bells and whistles required of next-generation networks, infrastructure developers and operators are clamoring for their place as they determine which wireless technology to put their capital heft behind. Not only must these companies choose when to pull the trigger on those upgrades (read: when they can turn a profit), they also have to wrestle with a range of choices in technology.
Some companies have hedged their bets exclusively on mesh technology, while others are pursuing a combination of mesh technology with wireless local area networks and WiMAX.
Mesh “will be a critical component of next-generation networks,” said Jim Freeze, SVP of marketing and alliances at BelAir Networks Inc. Since mesh doesn’t apply to just a single technology, it can be applied to Wi-Fi, cellular network backhaul, 3G networks and WiMAX, among others. Freeze added that his company is the first to obtain government approval to use mesh technology as a backbone for delivering WiMAX services.
Many municipalities have launched broadband wireless Internet on the backbone of this military-developed technology, and there have even been some large -scale temporary deployments of mesh for special events. Nortel Networks Ltd. said it was deploying a wireless mesh network that eventually is expected to service more than 3.9 million households in Moscow.
Rather than relying on one large base station that covers a large swath of geography, mesh networks route data between small nodes and allow the signal to travel around blocked paths by hopping from node to node until the signal reaches the end user. Mesh access points can be installed on street lights, utility poles or other public infrastructure, thereby aiming to deliver on its promise as a disruptive technology that could provide ubiquitous Internet access in urban and rural areas.
Guaranteed performance
Although the component parts in mesh networks connect to each other, they aren’t fundamentally mobile, which would allow seamless connectivity on the move. However, a John Hopkins University lab has developed a fast handoff scheme designed to enable mobile roaming without hiccups in the connection.
Many municipalities have large wireless networks in the pipeline, but there’s still the nagging reminder of early projects that failed to deliver on the anticipated coverage area or speed. Enter BelAir. Last week the manufacturer announced it would be the first wireless mesh infrastructure provider to guarantee performance levels through a Service Level Agreement. The move appears to already be winning over some significant partners.
US Internet Corp. said it partly selected BelAir’s infrastructure for a planned 54-square-mile broadband wireless network covering Minneapolis because of the SLA.
Once the municipality determines the scope of coverage and performance levels they require, BelAir said it would deliver infrastructure designed to meet that threshold. Under the terms of the new SLA, if a network fails to meet those requirements, BelAir will provide additional nodes to meet those needs at no charge.
Slated for a November launch, Minneapolis is to be the first major U.S. city to be completely covered (the city has a target coverage of 95%) with mesh, Freeze said.
Freeze said BelAir Networks’ mission it to create “broad-scale, large networks without essentially connecting the backhaul with wires but connecting the backhaul wirelessly.” Mesh technology delivers on that aim, he added.
“Rather than using a single radio for backhaul and sharing that among all access points, what BelAir does is use multiple backhaul radios,” Freeze explained. “We can cover four square miles with only one connection to the Internet.”
