Wireless Research in and around Indian Country is at its high point.
Wireless has always been a viable option, but has had limited applications in the past.
Today, there are high-speed wireless options backbones, high-speed access options, and
community-wide node methods being explored, researched and tested, that provide broadband
Internet solutions to remote areas of the country.
Creating the Pathway to a Statewide
Wireless Tribal Broadband* Network
- Identifying current wireless projects affecting Indian Country and utilizing the
various approaches to create solutions.
- Conduct Community Technologies Assessments with the identified Tribes (19 Pueblo
Nations in New Mexico and the 18 Bands of Mission Indians in Southern California) that
are/could be affected by the Wireless Access options and Wireless Community Nodes options,
as a way to access broadband (high-speed) Internet access.
- The community nodes will be able to implement Education Outreach & Training
(EOT) programs, from both Alliance & NPACI, a way for the both groups to start
collaborating and implementing EOT programs across the groups.
The Albuquerque High Performance Computing Center of the University of New Mexico has
been initiating work with the Pueblo Tribal Nations of New Mexico and the Bands of Mission
Indians in California to be testbeds for a Statewide Wireless Tribal Broadband Network
proof of concept. The AHPCC's Education, Outreach & Training
Department has been working with the Tribal Colleges over the last three years to get
high-speed internet (Broadband) technology to the 32 Tribal Colleges. (See the EOT poster
- "Distributing
Grid Technologies Across the Southwest" )
The identified methods will be a way to create models for a "Statewide
Wireless Tribal Broadband Network" so that initial funding can be identified
to create a pathway for providing high speed Internet access to Tribal Communities. The
approaches will help identify various models, according to specific Tribally defined
requirements.
Broadband Technology: Broadband
penetration is expected to reach 10-15% of US households by 2003. Internet Service
Providers are racing to deploy broadband solutions to connect "the last mile" of
data from high speed fiber optic networks to end users who currently have narrowband
access. The throughput or transfer rate of data per second defines
"Broadband."
Until recently, broadband access was only available to urban businesses who
could afford to pay around $1,200 per month for a T-1 connection. The recent introduction
of Digital Subscriber lines (DSL) over phone lines and Cable Modems have opened up
broadband access to consumers in large metropolitan areas where carriers are offering
these services. (Quoted from Inficom: Broadband Technology, http://www.inficom.com/technology.htm )
Current Wireless/Satellite Connection Models
1) Global Wireless Education Consortium with the University of New Mexico (UNM)
The Electrical and Computer Engineering (EECE) Department of the University of New
Mexico is a member of the "Global
Wireless Education Consortium" formed by Lucent, Ericsson, Motorola, Vodafone,
Verizon, AT&T Wireless, Nortel Networks, Nokia, Telcordia Technologies (formerly
Bellcore), Raytheon, and Agilent Technologies to increase the quality and quantity of
students in the wireless and Information Technology field. The EECE Department already
offers courses in multimedia, networking, digital signal processing, wireless
communications, optical communications, computer hardware, software engineering,
watermarking for transmitting secure documents over the Internet, increasing Internet
bandwidth, sensors, telemedicine, etc... The UNM Wireless Communications Group is
researching all of the above wireless technologies.
Model - laptop access via the two-way wireless high-speed hub connecting classroom's
full of single PC's.
The Havasupai Tribe at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and 110 chapters
of the Navajo Nation. - StarBand Communications Inc. (formerly known as
Gilat-To-Home Inc.), America's first consumer, always-on, two-way, high-speed satellite
Internet service provider, today announced it has joined forces with Northern Arizona
University (NAU) to provide its StarBand(SM) service to 120 locations within the Navajo,
Hopi and Havasupai Indian reservations in some of the most remote areas of Arizona, Utah
and New Mexico. In conjunction with the Southwest Navajo Nation Virtual Alliance (SNNVA)
and Navajo Nation agencies, StarBand will enable Native Americans of all ages to access
NAU's distance education programs. (Quoted from http://www.gilat2home.com/news/indiannations.html
)
Model -
access via the two-way satellite high-speed Internet service connected to a single PC.
3) Tachyon & Dandin Group with Advanced Networking
Project with Minority Serving Institutes (AN MSI)
One or more tribal colleges and universities will soon benefit from a project to test
wireless technology. As part of the Advanced Networking Project with Minority-Serving
Institutions (AN-MSI), the pilot will test technology to provide multi-service
IP--enabling voice, data, and video to be converged on a single IP network--to typically
under-served areas. The project will also immediately benefit its participants by
providing the hardware, software, and training to implement wireless solutions. (Quoted
from http://www.anmsi.org/000818pr.html
)
The Network Technology Committee of the AN-MSI project has completed the first draft of its
highest priority project: guidelines to assist campus networkers in planning initial
installations and upgrades of their campus architecture. The guidelines are based on
practical experience, and offer examples of "best practices." The first draft
includes notes to the Committee on improvements to be made to this living, continually
evolving document, but because interest in the guidelines is very high, the Committee
elected to issue the guidelines now.
A necessary element in any wireless Internet network is the ability to connect local
user sites together. One method to tie these user sites together is to use highspeed
wireless linking radios. The Dandin Group's HighSpeed Internet Linking Radio is such a
device. It will allow highspeed connection to occur between these user local loop access
points.
Model -
Dandin has partnered with Interlink Products in the development of a High Speed Internet linking
radio that can provide connection speeds from 1.54Mbps (T1) up to 6Mbps. Operating
with the appropriate radio segment, this data radio will provide high speed Internet
backbone capabilities over a wide range of operating spectrum. When used in conjunction
with the TDR-900, it will provide all the necessary networking infrastructure for wireless
Internet local loop access. ( Quoted from http://www.dandin.com/linkingr.html )
4) Tachyon & Tamsco with
American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC)
ADEC NSF - Advanced Internet
Satellite Extension Project will develop and deploy advanced Internet services and
technologies over satellite infrastructure for purposes of enhancing research, instruction
and learning in a diverse set of institutions of higher education. This will be deployed
with 70 rural/remote MSI & Native American sites, yet to be identified.
A combined effort of the American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC) and Tachyon,
Inc. will extend the benefits of Internet2 to a broader set of institutions and provide
experience with advanced satellite-based Internet technology.
The NSF/ADEC Project Overview
Discussing the Digital Divide, Dr. Janet
Poley, President, ADEC. (Real Video)
Model: Two-Way
High-Performance IP - Tachyon started with a clean slate and set out to deliver
efficient two-way TCP/IP over a satellite link, so every aspect of the system is optimized
for TCP/IP traffic. The TCP/IP shortcomings in the typical satellite environment -
degradations due to slow-start, window size and acknowledgment frequency - are well-known.
There have been attempts to deliver IP over satellite but the satellite technologies have
focused on connection-oriented transmission protocols that are better suited for voice
traffic than IP, unnecessarily squandering expensive capacity. Network traffic is carried
via satellite between Tachyon Access Points (TAPs) at subscriber premises and a Tachyon
Satellite Gateway connecting to service partner IP backbone capacity. (Quoted from http://www.tachyon.net/network.html
)
5) High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network (HPWREN) at San Diego Supercomputing
Center (SDSC) utilizing off the shelf
high-speed wireless products, such as Ensemble
Through the NSF funded High Performance
Wireless Research and Education Network (HPWREN) is providing three Tribes in Southern
California; Pala Band of Mission Indians, Rincon Band of Mission Indians and the La Jolla
Band of Mission Indians, in San Diego County, California with Internet access via a
high-speed wireless backbone. The High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network
(HPWREN) team is creating, demonstrating, and evaluating a non-commercial, prototype,
high-performance, wide-area, wireless network in San Diego county. The NSF-funded network
includes backbone nodes on the UC San Diego campus and a number of "hard to
reach" areas in San Diego county. The HPWREN will not only be used for network
analysis research, but will also provide high-speed Internet access to field researchers
from several disciplines (geophysics, astronomy, ecology) and educational opportunities,
such as rural Indian reservations and schools.
Though many rural towns have access to the Internet via dial-up or cable modems, there
are several areas in the country (including San Diego county) that lack stable, affordable
commercial Internet services. In an effort to help bridge this potential "digital
divide", the HPWREN project is working toward delivering high-speed Internet
connectivity to several remote communities in east San Diego. (Quoted from http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/ )
The HPWREN team recently provided a wireless link for the Pala Native American
Indian reservation, which is home to more than 600 tribal members - including more
than 150 children who attend elementary school on the reservation.
La Jolla Native
American Reservation Collaborates with UC San Diego - Located just below Palomar
Mountain at 2400 feet, the La Jolla Native American Reservation's Learning Center serves
both young and old - with a rather extensive book selection and a computer lab that now
has high-speed
Internet access via UC San Diego's High Performance Research and Education Network
(HPWREN).
Although the establishment of wireless connectivity is a great benefit to these
communities, education programs are also an important aspect of any outreach project. To
ensure that tribal members are fully aware of the opportunities available to them via
high-speed Internet access, the HPWREN team is currenlty establishing an education program
for each reservation's learning center. (Quoted from http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/education.html
)
Models: HPWREN
Solar Power Relay Station Design - La Jolla Indian Reservation
HPWREN Solar Power
Relay Station Design - Rincon Indian Reservation.
;)
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