A bunch of folks have e-mailed me recently regarding the recent FCC ruling on "Cognitive Radio Technologies and Software Defined Radios". The ruling has been making the rounds and I've just now had a chance to read through the actual FCC document. All in all, this final rule demonstrates a continuing and remarkable ignorance regarding SD and cognitive radio technology and open source development on the part of the FCC.

I first started talking with the FCC regarding these issues a few years back. For those who are just getting their feet wet on this issue, I'd recommend taking a look at my posting from two years back, "The Coming (Cognitive) Radio Revolution... AKA The FCC as Regulatory Ostrich." The issues I discussed in 2005 are eerily prescient of the FCC's recent ruling.

Unfortunately, this most recent FCC statement completely ignores the fundamental issue that SDRs cannot be stopped or controlled at the supplier/manufacturer any more than the FCC can stop file-sharing, P2P networking, or micro-broadcasting. People aren't going to seek FCC licensure for their software patches (such thinking demonstrates an amazing naïveté for the FOSS [Free Open Source Software] arena). In fact, this recent ruling all but guarantees that Open Source software developers will have less interaction with the FCC because the agency is dramatically increasing the "annoyance threshold" for independent developers to work with them. Even more importantly, most of the SDR development that the FCC is asserting control over is going to be happening outside of the US, and thus outside the FCC's jurisdiction in the first place. In other words, this ruling assumes an Amerocentrism to open source development that doesn't even exist.

In 2005 I said I expected widespread availability in 5-10 years. Today we're already beginning to see the first wave of SD and cognitive radio technologies. The price points for hardware are dropping rapidly (in fact, even faster than I'd anticipated), and development and deployment of wireless technologies is accelerating at an incredible pace. The FCC still has an opportunity to set aside wide swaths of spectrum for SDR and cognitive radio use and alleviate this looming crisis. However, their continuing failure to act in any meaningful way and the obvious ignorance that this ruling demonstrates regarding the open source community generally, makes me wonder if they've fallen so far out of touch with realities on the ground that they think they can simply ignore the problem or will it out of existence.

I remember when Harold Feld and I went in and spoke with FCC staff about mesh wireless technology a couple years ago. I'd brought up the issue that mesh networks (and community networks generally) needed to be addressed in their rules and regulations (and in CALEA, in particular). The staff responded by saying that mesh was not really a major concern because it didn't exist yet, and nothing I said seemed to impact that assessment. So the next time we went in, I brought a backpack full of CUWiN equipment and, in 20 minutes, set up a working mesh wireless network inside the FCC building. Only with this technology fully deployed and operational in their own building did they begin to take the issue seriously. Remarkably, CALEA has remained completely unchanged by the on the ground realities of distributed (mesh) broadband networks and today things are quite a mess because of the FCC's refusal to address technological realities.

In the end, the FCC should not be making rulings on issues they clearly do not understand. And the FCC clearly does not understand (as an organization) the realities of SDR and cognitive radio technologies (even though a number of individual staffers clearly do). As spectrum policy and open source software development continue to collide, it would be far wiser for the FCC to initiate dialog with the open source community, come to terms with the technological changes that make current spectrum licensure obsolete, and formulate solutions that parallel the realities of software defined and cognitive radio technologies. I'd like to see the FCC actually address the concerns I and many others have been raising with them for the past several years. Instead they seem to be burying their head even further into the sand.

Originally posted at http://realneo.us/WiFi-Mesh-in-a-box, folks are using a CUWiN kit to bring wireless to their community in East Cleveland:

Thanks to an anonymous donor, East Cleveland has received some excellent equipment to start setting up a pilot proof of concept wireless broadband mesh network in some part of the city - location to be determined. The donated equipment is from a similar proof of concept deployment in Washington, D.C., and includes several commercial wifi antennas and routers and cabling to set up a small multipoint demonstration network, running the open source CUWiNWare mesh application and wifiDOG contained portal application, all routing to the city of East Cleveland's open source Drupal community portal, at http://eastcleveland.org. All this, combined with other digital divide bridge programs there, makes East Cleveland approaches to information technology some of the most interesting in America.

For those involved with or interested in this deployment, below is a list of the equipment received - if you need more details, take a look at the attached high res photo - if you need more details, email me. Phillip Williams is working with the technical team at CUWiN to configure this equipment and upgrade applications and we should have the test up and running within a few weeks. We will write about how this develops and progresses here. Anyone interested to be involved in this initiative in any way is welcome to comment here or contact me at realneo@inbox.com - Norm Roulet.

Two 2.4 GHz 8.5 dBi Omnidirectional Wireless LAN Antennas - HyperGain® HG2409U - Quantity 50+: $44.99 each - http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/hg2409u.php#mounts

Two Mesh Link devices - about 8" square by 4# height, with Ethernet/Power connection and N connector - appear shop-made - no brand markings

Two 2.4 GHz 14 dBi 120 Degree Vertical Polarized Sector Panel Wireless LAN Antenna - Model: HG2414SP-120 - Quantity 10+: $139.99 each - http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/hg2414sp-120.php

One Netgear 2.4 GHz 54 Mpbs Wireless Access Point WG602 - for use for second mesh relay with one of the directional antennas

One Lynksys Wireless-G 2.4 GHz 54 Mbps broadband Router WRT54G

Some long and heavy gage wire for connecting these, and other cords and connectors.

From Team CUWiN: (more info at www.cuwin.net)
CUWiN Releases CUWiNware 0.7.0

CUWiN announces a new version of its flagship software, CUWiNware 0.7.0. CUWiNware enables neighbors and communities to create a mesh wireless network that can share Internet connections, establish local VoIP services, and utilize peer-to-peer connections to improve their broadband experience. CUWiNware 0.7.0 makes community networking easier to use than ever before. CUWiNware is free open source software, which makes it as much as 75% cheaper to set up networks than its proprietary competitors.

Read more...

Professor Haiyun Luo, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at UIUC, will present on "The PERM Project and the Future of Mobile Broadband Internet Access" at the August 27, 2006 CUWiN Hack Night.

Hack Night will begin at 5 pm at takes place at the Independent Media Center (a.k.a. the old Downtown Urbana Post Office building). The IMC Building is located at 202 S. Broadway, Urbana, Illinois.

Hack Night meetings take place at 5pm on the last Sunday of the month and are free to the public. Hack Nights give local residents and interested community members a chance to learn more about the CUWiN project and its partners, is an opportunity to get involved with hardware and software development, is provides a venue to meet folks who are interested in wireless technologies.

As always, pizza will be provided.

For more information, contact:

Ross Musselman, CUWiN Outreach Coordinator,
Email: cu-wireless-support@cuwireless.net, Subject: Hack Night
Tel: +1 217 278-3933 x30

July 20, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Sascha Meinrath, CUWiN Executive Director
217-278-3933 x30 sascha@cuwireless.net

Ross Musselman, CUWiN Outreach Coordinator
217-278-3933 x31 rgmussel@cuwireless.net

***

CUWiN/UIUC PARTNERSHIP AWARDED $500,000 NSF GRANT TO DEVELOP NEXT GENERATION OPEN SOURCE MESH WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES.

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign partners with CUWiN to build high-performance, robust open source wireless mesh networking technologies.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $500,000 in grant funding to support a research and development partnership between the Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiN) and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This initiative, "Toward building a Performance-Predictable Wireless Mesh Network", focuses on the development of wireless routing protocols, network testing systems, and gateway discovery in open-source technology. The grant, part of the Network Technology and Systems Program of the NSF, provides support over a three-year period.

"CUWiN is building the next generation of mesh wireless technologies. Most importantly, CUWiN is releasing our software under an open source license -- allowing communities, municipalities, organizations, and individuals around the world to deploy low-cost alternatives to current proprietary systems." stated Sascha Meinrath, CUWiN Executive Director.

Community and municipal wireless networks have gained tremendous attention in recent years. The ultimate objective of this CUWiN/UIUC partnership is to incorporate research results and system prototypes into production code to be widely distributed by CUWiN. With the help of CUWiN, the research to be carried out by UIUC researchers will make a real impact and effect high-throughput, cost-effective broadband access both for the U.S. and worldwide.

"I am extremely pleased with the fact that NSF recognizes the importance of carrying out research on a real multi-hop wireless network. CUWiN provides us with a city-wide research testbed to understand how, and to what extent, wireless links are affected by PHY/MAC attributes and other environmental factors. All the measurements we make on CUWiN will help characterize the behavior of wireless links and identify control 'knobs' in the MAC/PHY layers with which the network capacity can be optimized." Principal Investigator, Jennifer Hou, stated.

CUWiN's mission is to help bridge the digital divide by developing low-cost, open source, wireless technologies and making them available to community and municipal networks around the world. CUWiN networks have been established in urban settings like Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., as well as rural places like the Mesa Grande Indian Reservation near San Diego, California, and Apirede, Ghana. CUWiN continues to expand its development testbed in Urbana, Illinois in partnership with the City of Urbana and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

"The wireless technologies being developed by CUWiN as a part of this initiative hearken back to the innovation and vibrancy of early Internet development."stated Ross Musselman, CUWiN Outreach Coordinator. "With a focus on maintaining Internet freedom, these new technologies support digital inclusion around the globe."

For more information on this initiative, contact the CUWiN team at:

E-mail: cu-wireless-support@cuwireless.net
Phone: +1 217 278-3933 x31.

Sign up for the once-a-month CUWiN e-mail news list at:

http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/cu-wireless-announce

Post Summit I thought I'd have more downtime to recover, but already things are already picking up again. There's a ton of documentation still coming for the Summit, and I'm sure there are folks all around the globe right now in deep recovery mode. Meanwhile, over 200 people attended the pre-summit and summit proper and I'm looking forward to hearing more about what folks will be working on post-Summit.

We had fantastic weather right through the entire Summit, followed by tornadoes. Which, of course, meant holing up in a hotel lobby and breaking open a fine Chilean reserva to pass the time. All in all, quite an amazing weekend.

2006 is shaping up to be a huge year for wireless networking and one of the key events of the year, the 2nd Annual National Summit for Community Wireless Networks, is less than three weeks away... March 31st - April 2nd!

Register today: http://cuwireless.net/summit/2006registration

Hosted by CUWiN, Free Press and the Mid-Rivers Community Wireless Network, developers, researchers, programmers and policy-makers will meet for three days for involved discussions at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.

... Community wireless developers from around the globe will demonstrate cutting-edge technologies;

... Researchers and programmers will discuss breakthroughs and developments;

... Policy-makers and funders will strategize with participants on the new initiatives being launched and involvement in national telecommunications policies.

Participants include Esme de Guzman Vos of Muniwireless.com, Robert McChesney of Free Press and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dewayne Hendricks of the Dandin Group, Inc., Sascha Meinrath of CUWiN, Harold Feld of the Media Access Project, Paul Smith of the Center for Neighborhood Technologies, and Laura Forlano of NYC Wireless.

More information is available here: www.cuwireless.net/summit

The 2nd National Summit for Community Wireless Networks is going to be a key event that will help set the agenda for further wireless growth.

Register quickly before space fills up:

http://cuwireless.net/summit/2006registration

Become a part of the growing wireless networking movement!

The Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiN), Mid-Rivers Community Wireless Network, and Free Press invite you to join us for a Community Wireless Networking Summit, March 31-April 2, 2006 in St. Charles, MO (right outside St. Louis). "Imagine & Implement: The 2006 National Summit for Community Wireless Networks" will focus on grassroots action; impacting national regulations and policies; and building the coalition of community groups, researchers, policy leaders, decision-makers, and activists working to create better broadband services and telecommunications infrastructures.

With Network Neutrality under attack and broadband service continuing to stagnate, it's time we organized to take the public airwaves back from corporate interests and put the public interest back in the spotlight. Community Wireless Networks are often owned by the communities that deploy them and offer better services for cheaper prices than traditional ISPs. Anyone interested in making the "public interest" the number one priority in broadband service provision should definitely attend this summit.

Community Wireless developers from across North America will be demonstrating cutting-edge technologies; researchers and programmers will discuss recent breakthroughs and developments; and policy-makers and funders will strategize with participants on the new initiatives being launched and how we can make an impact in DC.

More summit information is available online at:

www.wirelesssummit.org

Register online at:

www.wirelesssummit.org/register

Have questions or want to present? Send us an e-mail at:

cu-wireless-summit@cuwireless.net

See you in St. Charles,

--Sascha Meinrath
Summit Director

This weekend - Friday November 11 to Sunday November 13th - will be an historic moment for our community. We want you to be part of it.

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The Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center will open its community space in the downtown Urbana Post Office building!
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Last May, the IMC purchased the Post Office building - thanks to the
generous help of our capital campaign contributors!

This historic building boasts a huge 5000 square foot space behind the post office lobby. The postal services will remain. The rest of the first floor, which has gone unused for many years, has been converted into a performance space, media production facilities, a library & reading room, and meeting space. We are starting discussions on adding a cafe, bookstore, food store, or restaurant - come envision with us!

This summer/fall we undertook a major construction project - replacing much of the roof, separating and securing the post office space, adding a wheelchair accessible bathroom, and building a broadcasting studio for Radio Free Urbana.

* Come take tour of the building this Friday at 1 PM. *

* On Saturday, come celebrate the new space with a 5-band show (rock genre): 7pm until midnight. All ages, smoke-free, alcohol free. $5 donation. *

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The IMC will co-host a Radio and Wireless Barnraising with the Prometheus Radio Project!
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Read more...

The Urbana-Champaign IMC, Radio Free Urbana, the Prometheus Radio Project, and CUWiN are all teaming up to lauch a new low power FM radio station, host the grand opening of the new IMC Community Media and Arts Center, and launch the first phase of multimedia integration into the wireless networking software. Nov 11-13, 2005!

I've been involved with the Radio Free Urbana group for several years and led the Capital Campaign to buy the IMC's Community Media & Arts Center (boy was that a fun three years), so this is a big confluence of projects for me (obviously, the CUWiN integration is just icing on the cake). This barnraising has been a long time in coming, and there's a ton of work still to be done (including critical fundraising to offset the costs of construction of the first floor and building of the radio station studio). But when people ask the question, "What's the future of media?" what's being built this November here in Urbana is the answer.

More info at: http://www.prometheusradio.org/urbana.

Join the Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center, Champaign Urbana Wireless Network (CUWiN) and Prometheus for another hair-raising spine-tingling electrically-charged weekend radio project!

Read more...