SBIR Phase I: Low-Loss Ad-Hoc Networking for Outdoor WiFi

该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力使其他困难地区的连通性成为可能。例如，美国农村地区的宽带接入一直是一个长期存在的问题，阻碍了商业和教育的发展。安装的主要障碍是挖沟电缆的成本，每个服务位置的成本可能为7，000 - 30，000美元。新兴市场和远程工业物联网也存在类似的挑战。网络不能轻易取代今天？由于无线转发信息时会发生丢失，这可能会使每个转发位置的吞吐量减少一半，因此，低损耗网状网络，如所提出的，将通过消除对电缆的依赖，实现全无线解决方案，以解决全球最后一英里的连接问题。分布式和可扩展算法的影响超出了网状网络，扩展到其他技术的分散，以提高安全性和鲁棒性，但由于性能问题而无法实现。这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目专注于低损耗网状网络，可以在不铺设电缆的情况下通过宽带互联网接入覆盖数百或数千英亩。主要的智能优点包括可扩展的数据聚合，减少与预定网络结构的通信干扰，以及在非常大的无线网络中出现的其他挑战。本研究的目标是一个无线网状网络的拓扑结构和硬件，可以保持小于17%的吞吐量损失每跳在网络大于100个节点。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project enables connectivity in otherwise difficult areas. Broadband access in rural America, for example, has been a lasting problem that inhibits business and education alike. The primary barrier to installation is the cost of trenching cable, which can be $7,000-$30,000 per service location. Similar challenges exist in emerging markets and remote industrial Internet of Things. Networks cannot easily be replaced with today?s wireless technologies due to the losses that occur when forwarding information wirelessly, which can eliminate up to half of the throughput capability at each forwarding location. Low-loss mesh networking, such as that proposed, would enable fully-wireless solutions to last-mile connectivity problems globally by eliminating reliance on cable. The impact of distributed and scalable algorithms extends beyond mesh networking into the decentralization of other technologies to be more secure and robust, but cannot due to performance issues.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is focused on low-loss mesh networking that could feasibly cover hundreds or thousands of acres with broadband internet access without laying cable. The primary intellectual merits include scalable aggregation of data, reducing communication interference with a predetermined network structure, and other challenges that arise in very large wireless networks. The objective of this research is a wireless mesh network topology and hardware that can maintain less than 17% throughput loss-per-hop in a network larger than 100 nodes. This will be accomplished through real-world trials, simulations, and iterated testing of different geometries and time-domain multiplexing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.