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To Mesh or Not to Mesh for OSP?

Advantages of Wireless Mesh Systems for OSP Environments

Mike Intag, RCDD, Firetide

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Objectives

� Understand wireless options and their

differentiators in OSP environments

� Discuss considerations for high-performance

wireless networks

� Review mesh applications, design approaches and

best practices

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Why High-performance Wireless for OSP?

Security of remote areas / Access control

Property protection/

Vandalism prevention

Mobility of workers &

equipment

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Why Wireless Infrastructure?

� Deploy virtually anywhere

� Portability and mobility

� Extend, back-up, or replace

wired infrastructure

� Cost savings vs wire

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Wireless Challenges

� Availability of channels & spectrum

� RF interference

� Dynamic RF & physical environment

� “Trust but verify” attitude required

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Wireless Options

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Wireless Frequency Bands

� Licensed

• Controlled by the FCC or other regulatory agencies

• Can be sold or made commercially available to operators

� Unlicensed

• Unregulated frequencies with predefined rules for

hardware to mitigate interference

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Wireless Frequency Bands

Licensed? Line of site Advantage Disadvantage

900 MHz Unlicensed Not required Improved street-level

penetration

Lower throughput

for video compared

to other bands

2.4 GHz Unlicensed Required Better penetration

compared to 5 GHz

Interference from

consumer devices

4.9 GH Licensed Required Reserved for public

safety; less

interference

Requires frequency

coordination with

other agencies

5 GHz Unlicensed Required Better range and less

interference

compared to 2.4 GHz

Lower penetration

than 2.4 GHz

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Point to Point

� Pros

� Dedicated connection

� Highest bandwidth for backhaul

� Cons

� Does not scale; no flexibility

� Single point of failure

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Point-to-Point

Firetide Confidential

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Point to Multi-Point

� Pros

� May be cost effective if tall assets are available; bandwidth

requirements are low

� Cons

� Limited scalability: bandwidth divided by # of subscribers

� LOS required to each subscriber unit

� Base station creates a single point of failure

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Point-to-Multi-point

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Multi-Point to Multi-Point (Mesh)

� Pros

� Reach & scalability with multi-hop connections

� Flexibility – can be deployed a PtP, PtMP or mesh

� Cons

� Variable performance from different vendors

� More expertise required vs PtP or PtMP

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Mesh & Point-to-Point

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Why is Redundancy Important?

� Radio equipment is very reliable….

� …but they are frequently installed

on light poles which aren’t

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Not All ‘Wireless Mesh’

Created Equal

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Imagine a Traditional Wired Switch

(Wired Ethernet infrastructure)

Most efficient mesh utilizes L2 distributed wireless switch architecture

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Now, Give Each Port Wireless Capability

(Wired Ethernet infrastructure)

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Separate the Ports…

(Wired Ethernet infrastructure)

Bingo, a Virtual Ethernet Switch!

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Key Requirements

Voice Video High-bandwidthdata

High call capacity High throughput

Low latency

Low jitter (variation in latency)

Multicast support

End-to-end QoS & traffic prioritization

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Wireless: How Good Is It?

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� Point to point

� Up to 1 Gig+

� Point to multi-point

� WiMAX: 20-30 Mbps total capacity (divided by # of subscribers)

� MIMO-based PtMP systems: 100-125 Mbps

� Wireless mesh

� Up to 250-300 Mbps in PtP mode or 100-150 Mbps sustained

over multiple hops

� Varies by vendor: from 10-15 Mbps to 100-150 Mbps per radio

Numbers listed are usable throughput, not theoretical data rate

What About Throughput?

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Is Wireless Secure?

Encapsulation w/ Firetide Mesh Routing Protocol

AES WPA2 EncryptionWPA2 Encryption

Packet Filtering

Packet Filtering

� Standards-based

� Radio layer encryption

� FIPS 140-2 certification

� Propitiatory

� Encapsulation

� Digital certificates & MAC filtering

� VLANs

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Wi-Fi Access vs Mesh

� Wi-Fi for client access

� Useful for live video in Wi-Fi ‘hot spots’• Laptops, PDAs

• Local and remote viewing

Wi-Fi enabledpatrol car

Radio, AP & Camera

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� Low-cost PtP has a cost advantage, but:

� Only for a few outlying cameras / 1 hop

� Disadvantages beyond that:

� No scalability

� Complex to manage

� More real estate required

Can I Use Low-cost Point-to-Point?

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Limitations of PtP & PtMP Systems

� Rigid architecture

� Does not allow multi-hop

� Requires towers / tall buildings

� No infrastructure mobility

� Require backhaul for each base

station: high costs of deployments

� Quickly run out of usable spectrum

� Transition to MIMO 40 MHz channels

creates challenges

Urban canyons a challenge to PtP & PtMP

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Key Technology Differentiators

Customer Benefit

Infrastructure Mesh

Mesh AP PtP PtMP

Scalability for

video

Security

Infrastructure

Mobility

Backhaul

requirementEvery 10-15 hops Every 2-3 hops Every link Every base station

Investment

ProtectionIndoor and outdoor,

multiple applications

(data, video, voice)

Indoor and outdoor,

access point based,

data support only

Outdoor only, complex

network management,

no scalability

Outdoor only,

complex network

management, limited

scalability

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Design Considerations

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Nested PtMP Mesh Design

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Linear Loop Mesh Design

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Linear Mesh Design

� 10 hops in both directions

� Multi-application: VoIP, video,

Wi-Fi data

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Infrastructure Mesh

Applications

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Wireless-Enabled Campus

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Industrial Sites

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Smart Grid; Utility WAN

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Wi-Fi Hotspots

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Cellular Base Station Interconnect

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Mesh & Mobility

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Planning & Deployment

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Mesh Best Practices

� Combination of topologies

� Multi-mesh interconnected by wired or wireless backhaul

� Partial, linear or circular mesh with redundant drop-off points

� Be aware of trade-offs between redundancy, cost and performance

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Planning a Successful System

Business objectives

System requirements

Site survey

RF/Network design

Deployment

Future growth

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Design With Flexibility in Mind

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Prepare for a Variety of Conditions

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Future Growth

� Make sure the network can scale

� Evaluate new applications

� Cameras technology: ALPR, infrared, HD, megapixel

� Other services: Wi-Fi access, VoIP

� Mobility: real-time mobile video

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Questions?

Mike Intag, Firetide

mintag@firetide.com

partners@firetide.com

www.firetide.com

Presentation is available

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