Lecture here -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWibw__tpqM

1. Village Telco & Mesh WIFI
Networks 101
Carlo Nizeti - VK2MXC
Glen Steedman - VK2FWOO
Saturday, 9 March 13

2. Saturday, 9 March 13

3. The low down...
The Challenge
The Answer (Wifi Mesh goodness)
Hardware Spec
Software Spec (Batman, Asterisk, dd-wrt)
Field Testing results
Reference Architecture
Global Deployments
Demo Time
Saturday, 9 March 13

4. In Africa the average person spends more
than 50% of their disposable income on
mobile services.
The rapid spread of mobile phones is
remarkable. However in many parts of the
world high call costs mean that people have
to make hard choices about when to use the
phone.
Saturday, 9 March 13

5. The Challenge
For millions affordable access to communications remains elusive either because they
live in remote areas where mobile telecommunication operators have not reached or
because the available access is too expensive.
Open Source telephony software combined with the latest wireless networking
technology creates the potential for people to operate their own community phone
systems. While designed for the developing world, the Village Telco has application
anywhere where people wish to take control of their own telephone infrastructure.
Saturday, 9 March 13

6. Limited spectrum combined with a monopoly on communications mean poor service
and high cost.
No room for new players, no room for new services.
Saturday, 9 March 13

7. Yay for WIFI
Free Spectrum
Saturday, 9 March 13

8. Hacking Hardware
It’s amazing what you can do with a wifi router, a
pringles can and too much time on your hands...
Saturday, 9 March 13

9. The design challenge
Provide telephony
capabilities over wifi.
Cheap
Open Standards
Tough!
Quick & Easy
Deployment.
Able to be used to
deliver data and voice.
Can gateway to PSTN
Saturday, 9 March 13

10. +
=
The hardware
Saturday, 9 March 13

11. The Mesh Potato combines the features of an
802.11bg WiFi router with an Analog telephone
Adaptor (ATA). Each Mesh Potato provides a single
fixed telephone line to the end user, and is
connected to other Mesh Potatoes via a mesh Wifi
network.
Mesh Potatoes automatically configure themselves
to build a mesh Wifi network, greatly extending the
range of the network over regular WiFi.
Saturday, 9 March 13

12. Not Your Average Wifi Device
Outdoor Ready
Weatherised
UV Protected
Sealed UnitTough
Capable of
surviving
line spike,
brownouts,
power
surges.
Flexible
Accepts 9-40V
Can be powered
via phone or data
line
Saturday, 9 March 13

13. Hardware Spec
Atheros AR2317 system on a
Chip (SoC)
Silicon labs FXS port chipset
MIPS 4k processor 180 MHz
8 MByte Serial Flash
EEPROM
16 MByte RAM
802.11 b/g wifi with EIRP
power: 1-24 Mbit 20dBm or
36-54 Mbit 17dBm
Antenna Type : Internal
Omnidirectional PCB Antenna
LAN Port : 1 x RJ-45
FXS Port : 1 x RJ-11
Linux kernel 2.26.3
OpenWRT Kamikaze
(customised version)
B.A.T.M.A.N. mesh routing
daemon Version 0.3
Asterisk 1.4.11
Saturday, 9 March 13

14. Power Type : wide range, protected DC port
Power Options:
AC Adpator
PoE (Power over Ethernet)
PoTL (Power over Telephone Line)
DC Input Voltage : 9-40 VDC
DC Input Power : 2.5W DC nominal
Protected Ports: DC, RJ11 phone , RJ45 Ethernet
Protection: over-voltage, reverse DC, nearby lightning, static
electricity
Tough!
Saturday, 9 March 13

15. OpenWrt Linux
OpenWrt is a Linux
distribution for
embedded devices.
• Commonly used
on commodity WIFI
Routers.
• Low memory and
CPU requirement.
• Well supported.
Saturday, 9 March 13

16. B.A.T.M.A.N.
“Better Approach To
Mobile Adhoc
Networking”
• B.A.T.M.A.N. is a routing protocol for
multi-hop ad-hoc mesh networks.
• Can be described as a “LAYER 2” routing
system.
• The individual node only saves information
about the “direction” it received data from
and sends its data accordingly. Hereby the
data gets passed on from node to node and
packets get individual, dynamically created
routes.
A network of collective intelligence is
created.
Saturday, 9 March 13

17. Why B.A.T.M.A.N is
awesome!
Protocol Agnostic (IPv4 / IPv6 / IPX / Appletalk...)
Devices don't even need an IP Address.
Clients can roam.
Self building, healing and scaling.
Can have a gateway nominated to get out of the mesh.
Saturday, 9 March 13

18. Asterisk
Asterisk is like a box of Legos for people
who want to create communications
applications.
It includes all the building blocks needed
to create a PBX, an IVR system, a
conference bridge and virtually any other
communications app you can imagine.
Your IP address
becomes your phone
number.
Fully configurable using
the handset.
Saturday, 9 March 13

19. Mesh Potato Installation
Saturday, 9 March 13

20. Saturday, 9 March 13

21. Performance!
Pushing the limits
Goals
1. Test running from battery.
2. See how far we can push
wifi signal.
3. See what throughput we
can get from stock unit (no
external antenna).
Saturday, 9 March 13

22. Dee Why
Long Reef
Collaroy
Saturday, 9 March 13

23. Saturday, 9 March 13

24. In the real world...
More than 3 units would be deployed giving the
mesh survivability and higher bandwidth.
Distances would be shorter, or external antennas could
be used.
Further testing planned now that we have 5 units. :)
Saturday, 9 March 13

25. Futures
Saturday, 9 March 13

26. Deployments
Ibadan, Nigeria
Fusagasugá, Colombia
Orocovis, Puerto Rico
Kranshoek, South Africa
Bo-kaap, Cape Town, South Africa
Dili, East Timor
Piracanga, Bahia, Brazil
Text
We are looking
for a
not for profit or
community in
Australia who
could benefit!
Saturday, 9 March 13

27. Demo time!
Saturday, 9 March 13