A suite of software allows groups of small 60 GHz wireless base stations to communicate with each other
Wireless World: Technicians in Myckebud, Hungary install Terragraph-enabled small stations for trials starting in May 2018
Facebook has been developing technology for years to improve the organization of data and its transmission over wireless networks. The technology is now being integrated into commercially available small format 60 GHz base stations. And with connectivity providers joining the project, it could soon help connect homes and businesses around the world wirelessly to the internet.
Facebook technology called Terragraph allows you to combine base stations into groups that transmit at a frequency of 60 GHz and autonomously manage and distribute traffic among themselves. If one base station stops working, the other immediately takes over its tasks - and they can work together to find the most efficient way to pass information.
Already several equipment manufacturers, including , , ΠΈ , agreed to release commercial devices integrating Terragraph. Its most recent presentation took place in February at a trade show in Barcelona. If the technology can work as it should, Terragraph will make Internet access faster and cheaper at deployment sites.
Increasingly, broadband internet, previously distributed over expensive fiber optic cables buried in the ground, is reaching homes and businesses over the air. To do this, telecom operators are eyeing the high-frequency bands, the bandwidth of which is higher than the busy low frequencies that have long been used for consumer electronics.
Facebook Interested , which is usually referred to simply as 60 GHz, although technically speaking it stretches from 40 to 75 GHz. In many countries, it is not occupied by anyone, which means it is free to use.
Although indoor equipment supporting 60 GHz as an alternative to WiFi has been around for a long time, outdoor stations are only just now appearing. Many ISPs are considering using 60 GHz to close the gap between existing infrastructure and new locations they would like to cover, or to increase the capacity of already covered locations.
"It's definitely interesting," he says. , Research Fellow and PhD in Computer Science at the University of Buffalo (New York), efficiency of consumer equipment at 60 GHz for indoor installations. βMany people have had problems commercializing 60 GHz. There was a lot of talk about this."
One problem is that millimeter wave signals (30 to 300 GHz) do not travel as far as lower frequency signals, are easily absorbed by rain and foliage, and do not pass through walls and windows.
To get around these problems, providers typically use fixed wireless networks, in which base stations transmit the signal to a fixed receiver located outside the building. And from there, the data is already going through Ethernet cables.
Last year, Facebook partnered with a division to test the Terragraph system in two Hungarian villages. technicians connected 100 houses to the network. Terragraph allowed residents to use the Internet at an average speed of 500 Mbps, instead of the 5-10 Mbps that came through DSL. Facebook is currently completing trials with carriers in Brazil, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia and the US.
The technology consists of a set of software based on , and includes features such as time division multiple access, which divides the channel into time slices during which different bases can transmit signals in rapid succession. In the seven-level Terragraph works at the third level, passing information between IP addresses.
In the Terragraph system, Facebook took its experience of transmitting data over its fiber optic channel and applied it to wireless networks, says , Senior Director of Cambium. In 2017, the project came full circle when Facebook made the underlying routing software free. This program, , originally intended for Terragraph, but is now used to transfer information between Facebook data centers.
The technology still has its limitations. Each base station can transmit a signal up to 250 m, and all transmission must be on a line-of-sight that is not obstructed by foliage, walls, or other obstructions. Anouj Madan, Facebook's product manager, says the company has tested Terragraph in rain and snow, and that the weather has "so far not been a problem" for speed. But Hebbala says that, just in case, many 60GHz stations are designed to temporarily switch to standard WiFi frequencies of 5GHz or 2,4GHz if there is a big loss.
A spokesperson for Sprint said the company plans to test Terragraph equipment and is looking into 60GHz bandwidth for its network. An AT&T spokesman said the company is doing laboratory testing of 60 GHz frequencies, but has no plans to include this band in its current networks.
Saha of the University of Buffalo is optimistic about Terragraph's chances of going out into the world. βIn the end, companies will look at the cost of the technology, and if it is less than fiber, then they will definitely use it,β he says.
Hebbala says his company's first Terragraph-enabled base station is now in its "development and design phase" and will most likely arrive later this year. The company's goal is to offer Terragraph as a software feature that is easy to enable or reconfigure remotely. βHopefully when we talk in six months, I can talk about pilot launches and test rollouts with early customers,β he says.
Source: habr.com