9 - Successful mesh implementations

Summary

Here we examine two of the most common real-world mesh deployments: firstly wireless cities and secondly community Internet. We show how their reasons for success align with the content presented in earlier chapters in this book. Interestingly, wireless city deployments are targeted at urban areas which already have wired Internet connectivity but where the addition of mobility is valued, whilst in contrast community Internet is targeted at those places where the wired Internet is sparse and connectivity can be added most easily by using wireless to serve fixed locations.

Thirdly, we also show a rising application of mesh networking – vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). These systems are targeted at improving road safety and have had spectrum allocated in many countries, and enjoyed success in industrial trials. We expect VANETs to experience particularly strong future growth.

Wireless cities

Several wireless cities are now up and running which provide easy Internet access on the move. In the UK, London and Bristol were early examples, whilst in the USA there is New York, Portland, OR and a rapidly growing number of others. The aim in each case is to enable easy mobile connection to the Internet. This can serve the general public, business users and the city authorities, who may use it for operational purposes, including for public services such as law enforcement.

The wireless nodes are deployed at street level and each includes a normal WiFi access point, so that users may connect with their existing WiFi enabled devices, such as laptops and a growing number of converged cellular-WiFi mobile handsets and PDAs.