Project Management

How you can contribute:

1. Look in Hot Zone for questions you can help answer or action items you can help complete.
2. Post to the email list what you know or can do.
3. If you've done all you can in Hot Zone, look at Cool Zone and help there.

HOT ZONE

The HOT ZONE focuses on the current priorities and active and imminent areas of progress.

Objective

Long Term

Establish a limited, widely connected, high speed wireless network capitalized and maintained by municipalities, volunteers or commercial contributors or combination thereof. SVWUX as forum of interconnectivity.

Short Term Next

To be able to demonstrate proof of concept for backhaul links of reliable >1MB/s connection over 5-10 miles so we can attract funding, partnering, etc.

Current Action Items

Tasks that generate progress in our short term objective which are not being held up by any other pending action items or questions.

1. Build a reconfigured server to drop in place of current LGH server. (Craig)
2. Work out SJW MOU to install test station at Alum Rock. (Craig)
3. Upgrade LGH equipment. Craig, Sean H (tower climber),
4. Modify NS5's external antenna circuit to reduce loss (Brad D)
5. Get more funding
   1. Approach water company about seed funding (Craig)

Open Questions

These are questions that need to be answered before some action item can be generated.

1. Which technology/band to use for backhauls?

Pending Action Items

Depend on completion of a "current action item" above.

1. Install repeater at Alum Rock water tower to connect SJCEOC to L42.
2. Try external dish antennas on modified NS5s

Cool Zone

The Cool Zone covers items we would like addressed by which are not holding up hot zone items. Resources should be directed here only when it does not detract from hot zone activity.

1. Questions
   1. OpenWRT vs. AirOS?
2. Action Items
   1. Hack session to put multiple VAPs onto an OpenWRT box.
3. Support for multiple protocols: Supporting multiple protocols (802.11a, 802.11b/g, 802.11n, 802.16) would prove beneficial as a long-term goal of the group in bringing together all manner of users.
4. Method to define preferential traffic: San Jose OES (R.A.C.E.S.) needs a way to define preferential traffic in the event of an emergency situation.
   1. One possible solution discussed includes the following components:
      1. Multiple ESSIDs, each ESSID associated to a separate VLAN
      2. Quality of Service (QoS) defined for each ESSID/VLAN.
         1. Highest QoS value (7) reserved for system management
         2. Next three highest QoS values reserved for emergency operations (6 = medical, 5 = fire/police, 4 = all other emergency traffic).
         3. All other QoS values can be defined as different service levels for non-emergency traffic (3 = voice, 2 = interactive sessions, etc.)
5. What size of earthquake will our links sustain operationally?
   1. Antenna Alignment
      1. Can they be designed to automatically recover?
      2. If not automatically, they should be easy to realign or be marked with realignment instructions for reactivation with minimal supervision.
   2. Power
      1. Not relying on generators that too quickly run out of fuel
      2. Solar?
      3. Wind?

Completed / Answered Zone

Completed Objectives

1. Figure out with SBAY how to handle incoming money (Craig, Warren)
2. Try Bullet 2's and report back
3. Buy a pair of 2.4 GHz Bullet 2 radios (Warren)
4. Short range test of 4 km, 5 GHZ using Nanostation 5's on internal antennas.
5. 10 miles with Linksys routers with 18 & 24 db antennas (2.4 GHz).
6. Buy another 2 GHz grid dish antenna: No longer necessary. Donated by Sean Head
7. Research/choose dish antenna: Selected by Brad Douglas. "Teletronics 15-551 24dBi @ $51.25 is the one you want. It has a far superior forward pattern to the others and will be much easier to line up (and keep lined up) over long distances. "

Questions Answered

See Project Decision Log

Long Term Strategy

Project Sequence, Phases and Categories

Layer 0-3

• Establish nodes at key consolidation points in the following order
  1. Start Up Phase: Powered sites with good views of key user sites, namely EOC's and hospitals.
     1. LGH Cupertino Vector
     2. Layer 42 Networks
  2. Build Out Phase: Bring key user sites online - EOC's and hospitals in view of the above coverage sites.
     1. El Camino Hospital (Delayed due to contruction/relocation)
     2. Mountain View EOC (Delayed because no direct view)
  3. Hardening Phase: Add self sustaining power, e.g. solar/battery to sites not yet so capable.

Layers 3+

1. Addressing scheme
2. VLAN scheme
3. Routing scheme

Hacking OpenWRT

1. OpenWRT firmware needs support for IPv6 AND 802.11. Current versions do one or the other.
2. Add any other needed features to OpenWRT. What is missing e.g. compared to Ubiquity's AirOS ?
   1. Autoupdating signal strength meter
   2. Bandwidth limiter
   3. ?
3. Transition nodes to using capable version of OpenWRT firmware.

Layer 7

• Evaluate applications for suitability for EOC users. i.e. Usable with minimal training?
• Evaluate applications for suitability in unreliable networks.
  • Do they work with/without access to server?
  • Is server replicable within severed networks?
  • Do they offer proper diagnostics when network is suffering? or just vague "timeout" messages?
• Do they support IPv6 functionally and not merely claim?