1. 21-09-0071-00-00001 IEEE 802.21 MEDIA INDEPENDENT HANDOVER DCN: 21-09-0088-00-0000 Title: Mesh Networks based on IEEE 802.21 Date Submitted: May 7, 2009 Presented at IEEE 802.21 session #32 in Montreal Authors or Source(s): Johanness Lessmann (NEC) Burak Simsek (Fraunhofer Institute) Abstract:

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3. What are we trying to do? Enable optimization of heterogeneous carrier grade mesh networks – No L2 mesh (802.11s), simply support L3 mesh – Provide additional information to higher layers on mesh specific information such as neighborhood information and radio configuration – Use existing IEEE 802.21 primitives and make minor enhancements – Respective scenarios of Carmen and solution approaches were presented in March meeting.

4. An Example Implementation of LinkNet Macha in Zambia Villages and the houses within those villages are scattered across a large land No wired communication No reliable power supply Limited hardware resources Limited budget Target: Deploy a wireless backhaul which is reliable enough to provide affordable connection throughout the country

5. An Example Implementation of LinkNet Macha in Zambia Approach: Develop a satellite based backhaul and use dvb + wimax + wifi where appropriate Develop individual “sites” for each relatively dense population and connect sites again through wireless media Enable flexibility through mesh since There is no dedicated bandwidth, which costs a lot (€5500 pro 1Mb/s) There is no reliable power supply, hence none of the nodes are considered as reliable Few technicians to deal with any kind of network and hardware problems – Extend the coverage to the entire country and then to others Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malawi…

6. An example “Site” in Macha The network is evolving as much as the financial and technical conditions let

7. Back to Mesh and IEEE 802.21 IEEE 802.21 offers most of the mechanisms required for the described environment – Through event-, command- and information - services However, there are still points missing to enable the mesh backhaul Our approach is to extend the standard with the missing points

8. Examples of missing points Radio parameter configuration is essential for backhaul management Example: Radio_Get_Properties.response ( HardwareAddress, Technology, Directionality, Channels, TxPowerRange, SensitivityRange, MCSList, SchedulerProperties, AntennaProperties ) Other examples get/set current radio settings Another option is to use an extensive approach such as IEEE1900.4 together with IEEE 802.21

9. Examples of missing points Per-flow handovers – Currently, only handover of terminals as a whole – Per-flow granularity might be desirable Flows are routed via different mesh paths to gateway Selective dropping of flows Exploiting multi-homing Resource-limited backhaul Several minor modifications here and there – LINK_TUPLE_ID instead of LINK_ID – Switch_Interface_Mode – LINK_DETECTED on both link endpoints – … 802.21 proxy mode?

10. Conclusion Extend 802.21 to configuration of mesh networks – Business demand (operators, vendors: DT, BT, ALU, NEC, Redline, StrixSystems) – Successful deployments already (Portland, Stockholm, UK wireless cities) – Much already there, minimum extension/effort – EU project dedicated to contribute (“free” man power, diverse input)