Net2MAX Community Wireless

From Net2MAX

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Network Architecture 2.1 Sharing Networks 2.2 Sharing Devices

1 Introduction

Traditionally, Local Communities cannot contribute much on the network side (whether it is for mobile voice or broadband Internet access), with Net2MAX however it is possible to customise the network side as well. Net2MAX allow the easy creation of private wireless networks that are INDEPENDENT of the carriers or network operators.

2 Network Architecture

The Net2MAX Community Wireless (NCW) network is build by the members themselves, each of them contributing to part of the wireless infrastructure by attaching low-cost commodity Wi-Fi devices to their Community Servers and running NCW software on those Community Server.

The area covered by the radios in a Community Server is called a "cell". Any Wi-Fi device within a cell can communicate with each other as well as with the outside world through the Community Server.

A NCW network is formed when there are two or more overlapping cells. Cells that are out-of-range with each other can now communicate with each other through cells in the middle. As shown below, Cell 1 does not have the range to reach Cell 5 but it can go through Cells 2, 3 and 4 which provide an indirect path between Cell 1 and 5.

NCW has a similar architecture to the MIT Roofnet where people put antennas on their roof-tops to form their own private wireless network, but NCW is designed for our own set of requirements:

1. Very lower cost
2. Runs on non-dedicated commodity PCs (with other virtual servers)
3. Air interface use commodity wireless hardware
4. Can use any mobile routing as required (proactive, reactive, hybrid)
5. Ability to be a Client AND a Mesh AND a Repeater AND an Access Point at the same time
6. Use unlicensed radio spectrum
7. Use different antenna types (high/low gain)
8. Ability to have cells going up and down (self-healing network)
9. Multiple radio design (at least 2 radios per node)
10. Use multiple Internet connections (ADSL, VSAT, Cable, 3G, WiMAX)
11. Indoor deployments (as well as outdoor)
12. Allow mobile stations (users and community servers can move)

Currently the Net2MAX Community Wireless (NCW) is based on 802.11 but it can be based on any cheap commodity wireless networking technology. Note NCW is NOT designed as a "last-mile" solution, although with 803.11n speeds going up to 600Mbit/s, it can be a complement or an alternative to WiMAX, VDSL2 and FTTP in some cases.

2.1 Sharing Networks

Net2MAX Community Wireless (NCW) is ideal for sharing of external networks within the private wireless network. As shown below, there are 9 community servers running NCW software forming a NCW network (we call the area covered by the radio of each of these community server is called a "cell") and 4 of these cells have connection to external networks of some sort.

Those wireless cells with external network connections (internet, phone, TV) can share those networks with other cells within the same network easily and privately - without paying any data traffic charges.

Since NCW is self-healing with redundant paths, the sharing of external networks can be made highly reliable by having more than one cell within the network with connection to the same external network (e.g. 2 or 3 cells within the same NCW sharing their Broadband Internet).

2.2 Sharing Devices

Net2MAX Community Wireless (NCW) can also be used for sharing of internal devices within each cell. As shown below, there are 9 community servers running NCW software forming a NCW network (we call the area covered by the radio of each of these community server is called a "cell") and 4 of these cells have connection to internal devices of some sort.

Some wireless cells might have some devices that they want to share (bluetooth, usb, firewire, dect etc.). Those devices can be shared within the network with other cells easily and privately - without paying any data traffic charges.

Integrated Computing and Communications

Besides actual hardware costs, having computing and communications inside one Community Server, save data traffic since a lot of data accesses (like disks or group calendar) can be served straight from the same server without needing to go outside. This improves both performance and security.

NCW runs the backbone wireless network on one or more radios and have a separate set of radios for the client network. This allow continuous high performance as more Virtual Servers are added into the Community Servers and as the NCW network expands (enabling it to grow from 2 neighbours to a village).