SBIR Phase I: Low-Loss Ad-Hoc Networking for Outdoor WiFi

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project enables connectivity in otherwise difficult areas. Broadband access in rural America, for example, has been a lasting problem that inhibits business and education alike. The primary barrier to installation is the cost of trenching cable, which can be $7,000-$30,000 per service location. Similar challenges exist in emerging markets and remote industrial Internet of Things. Networks cannot easily be replaced with today?s wireless technologies due to the losses that occur when forwarding information wirelessly, which can eliminate up to half of the throughput capability at each forwarding location. Low-loss mesh networking, such as that proposed, would enable fully-wireless solutions to last-mile connectivity problems globally by eliminating reliance on cable. The impact of distributed and scalable algorithms extends beyond mesh networking into the decentralization of other technologies to be more secure and robust, but cannot due to performance issues. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is focused on low-loss mesh networking that could feasibly cover hundreds or thousands of acres with broadband internet access without laying cable. The primary intellectual merits include scalable aggregation of data, reducing communication interference with a predetermined network structure, and other challenges that arise in very large wireless networks. The objective of this research is a wireless mesh network topology and hardware that can maintain less than 17% throughput loss-per-hop in a network larger than 100 nodes. This will be accomplished through real-world trials, simulations, and iterated testing of different geometries and time-domain multiplexing. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.