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

该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力使原本困难地区的互联互通成为可能。例如，美国农村地区的宽带接入一直是一个长期困扰商业和教育的问题。安装的主要障碍是挖沟电缆的成本，每个服务地点的成本可能在7,000至30,000美元之间。新兴市场和远程工业物联网也存在类似的挑战。网络不能轻易被今天取代吗？由于在无线转发信息时发生的损失，这可能会使每个转发位置的吞吐量减少多达一半。低损耗网状网络，如提出的，将通过消除对电缆的依赖，为全球最后一英里连接问题提供全无线解决方案。分布式和可扩展算法的影响超越了网状网络，扩展到其他技术的去中心化，使其更加安全和健壮，但由于性能问题而无法做到这一点。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的重点是低损耗网状网络，该网络可以覆盖数百或数千英亩的宽带互联网接入，而无需铺设电缆。主要的智力优势包括可扩展的数据聚合，减少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。本研究的目标是一种无线网状网络拓扑和硬件，可以在大于100个节点的网络中保持低于17%的吞吐量每跳损失。这将通过真实世界的试验、模拟和不同几何形状和时域多路复用的迭代测试来完成。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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.