Because the demand for outdoor wireless access has been increasing, companies must respond with wireless LAN (WLAN) solutions that take full advantage of existing tools, knowledge and network resources to cost-effectively address ease of deployment and WLAN security issues. They need an outdoor WLAN solution that excels in the unique attributes of wireless mesh technology, effectively supports today’s networking requirements, and lays the foundation for the integration of business applications.
Rajan Mehta, Vice-president, Nortel Networks, highlights the need for this technology and how it evolved. “In the past, municipalities and public service agencies have faced a number of obstacles when attempting to integrate high-speed and/or wireless services. Many have found that the traditional fixed-line broadband service is difficult and expensive to deploy, especially in larger communities or areas in which services are highly dispersed.”
He however adds that attempts to use Wi-Fi hotspots to provide citywide or regional coverage have been hampered by the need for wired network backhaul for each Wi-Fi hotspot, and that cellular networks have been prohibitively expensive and lack the bandwidth capacity to adequately support hundreds of users.
In order to attract customers in the government and public service sectors, wireline service providers must find a way to overcome these barriers without increasing their own management and operating expenses. Mesh networking technology provides a powerful solution that lets them offer high-performance wireless broadband coverage in a city or region at a price their customers can afford.
Shrikant Shitole, Business Development Manager, Service Providers, Cisco Systems India and SAARC, explains the technology. “A wireless mesh network is a local area network that employs one of two connection arrangements—full-mesh topology or partial-mesh topology—to cover entire cities or towns. A wireless mesh networking solution enables cost-effective, secure deployment of enterprise campus to metropolitan-scale outdoor Wi-Fi networks that complement existing wireless technologies such as GSM and WLAN.”
Mesh networking technology lets providers augment their wired backhaul infrastructure to provide wireless broadband services with very high security, reliability and scalability. It relies on the mature 802.11 standard for wireless networking, and is thus a highly stable technology, unlike other emerging transport methods that are unproven and do not utilise the ubiquitous installed base of 802.11 clients. In addition, mesh networks feature self-healing and dynamic route optimisation capabilities, making them simple and cost-effective to deploy and manage. Using mesh networks, service providers can keep their operating costs down while passing on savings to customers.
Wireless mesh networks are an ideal option in countries like India. Foreseeing huge potential here, Cisco’s Shitole says, “Wireless mesh networks can be used as the last-mile access technology for delivering broadband applications such as education, tele-medicine and even e-governance. Even in the metros and major cities, wireless mesh clusters can be created in the business districts where there is high data consumption to deliver high-speed data access to enterprises and consumers.”
Quoting industry research, Shitole continues, “In 2005, a report published by ABI Research stated that municipal Wi-Fi networks covered only about 3,885 sq km. By 2010, this figure is expected to increase to over 3,25,000 sq km worldwide. The bulk of these deployments will take place in North America and the Asia-Pacific region. To serve those networks, more than one million wireless mesh routers will be shipped in 2010. The manufacturing revenues from those shipments will exceed $1.2 billion. The report says that the demand for wireless mesh networks will be driven by local governments that wish to deploy municipal broadband networks for public safety and increased efficiency.”
Commenting on the potential of mesh networking technology in India, Mehta says that, “This trend is catching up pretty fast in the country. Growth is taking place because the technology is extremely simple to deploy, and it can easily solve transmission problems. Transmission is a major issue in India, but with a wireless mesh network it can be sorted out.” He predicts that in the next two years at least a few dozen large wireless mesh networks will be implemented.
Autor: Faiz Askari
Quelle: The Financial Express, 24.04.2006
