Service Provisioning for Wireless Mesh Networks

1. Service Provisioning for Wireless Mesh Networks Eric Koskie

2. Overview • What services are commonly being deployed on municipal networks • Wireless Mesh Networks • Service Offerings • Free Internet Access • Registered • Unregistered • Fee-based Public Access • Flat-Rate • Differential-Rate

3. Overview • Web Filtering • Wireless Spectrum Preservation • Public Safety • Video Surveillance • Mobile Government Users • Virtual Private Networks • Voice over IP (VoIP) • Meter Reading • Government as Anchor Tenant • Dedicated Internet Access • Advanced Network Services

4. Introduction • Municipal Wireless networks are a hot new topic in the face of telecom today • Enhance services to community • Over 300 governments have created Municipal Wireless networks • Several Reasons for Municipal Wireless Networks • Bridge the digital divide • Combine government services and public access

5. Introduction • These networks will be owned and managed by many different entities • Multi-system Operators (MSOs) • Wireless ISPs • Phone Companies

6. Wireless Mesh Networks • Based on 802.11 WiFi • Laptops, PDAs, Cell Phones • May eventually migrate to WiMAX • 8 to 30 WAPs to cover one square mile • WAPs use mesh capabilities to bring all network traffic back to a single access point • This access point provides the backhaul for all other WAPs • Uses DSL, Cable, T1, point-to-point wireless, or WiMAX

7. Service Offerings • Free Public Access • Unregistered • Registered • Flat-Rate Fee-based Public Access • Differentiated-Rate Fee-based Public Access • Web (URL) Filtering • Spectrum Preservation • Public Safety • Video Surveillance • Mobile Government Users

8. Service Offerings (cont.) • Virtual Private Network (VPN) • Voice over IP (VoIP) • Meter Reading • Government as Anchor Tenant • Dedicated Internet Access

9. Free Internet Access (Unregistered) • Free Internet Access • Roaming capability of mesh networks allows for users to move between access points • A stationary device may seek out the best possible connection

10. Free Internet Access (Registered) • Requires RADIUS server to authenticate users • Standards-based Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) • Juniper Networks Steel Belted RADIUS server is deployed to ensure use by only registered users

11. Flat-Rate Fee-Based Public Access • New requirements emerge with fee-based access • Need special billing systems • Interact with network and allow access from customer service representatives • Limit user bandwidth to what they pay for • Need to be aware if users are active and have paid • Steel Belted RADIUS sets up Multiservice Edge Router

12. Differentiated-Rate Fee-based Public Access • Customers receive different charged for different levels of service • Users may pay for unlimited usage • Users may be limited to a peak information rate • Users may be limited to a certain number of bytes of download per day • Users may be guaranteed a minimum information rate or any of a number of QoS Parameters • It is possible a user’s payments are not current and need to be restricted from the network

13. Web Filtering • Non-profits and municipalities restrict users from being able to reach certain sites • Use of a firewall • Blacklist • White-list • Sites are stored in database

14. Wireless Spectrum Preservation • Each WAP has a limited amount of bandwidth • With the success of adding users, the network will become more constrained • Operators will place control on several types of users • Abusive users must be prevented from placing malicious traffic into the network • Worms and DoS attacks use up backhaul bandwidth • At-risk users • Intrusion Detection and Prevention firewalls

15. Public Safety • Public Safety communications have high standards to meet • These standards have risen over the last five years due to well-known failures of these networks • Police, fire, and rescue teams need be given higher priority than other traffic • Operators need to be able to control the access rate that devices send traffic onto the network

16. Video Surveillance • Presence of cameras can be a crime deterrent and storage of video helps ensure convictions • Video cameras can monitor traffic • Video at special events can be quickly arranged with a WiFi connection • QoS parameters must prioritize video data • Ability for operators to increase bandwidth to a certain camera to increase quality

17. Mobile Government Users • Spend significant amount of time traveling to locations throughout the municipality • Inspectors • Building Inspectors • DPW employees • Need security due to dealing with public trust data • Odyssey Client on user laptop for security • Steel-Belted RADIUS

18. Voice over IP (VoIP) • Two categories: • Calls conducted with the network and network operator’s knowledge • Skype • Vonage • Calls conducted without the network and network operator’s knowledge

19. Meter Reading • Currently labor-intensive • Water and electric meters • Traffic monitoring • Speeding Tickets • Red light tickets • Handheld devices can transmit tickets, public safety inspection reports and other government forms

20. Government as Anchor Tenant • Key to overall success of Municipal Wireless Network • Government is very large with significant telecom needs • Allows for fiscal security

21. Dedicated Internet Access • Bridging the digital divide • Serve the Small/Medium Business (SMB) Market • MSOs, telcos, and wireless ISPs are trying to expand customer base • SMBs only need firewalls and LANs

22. Advanced Network Services • Operators will want to introduce new, advanced services after initial deployment • Operators will want to sell these new services