MESH RADIO - THE 3 RD WAY FOR RESIDENTIAL

BROADBAND

W.H. Dobbie

DML, UK

ABSTRACT
Mesh Radio is a new Broadband Fixed Wireless Access architecture that
avoids the limitations of point to multi-point systems. A series of point-to-
point links are set up between nodes mounted on customer’s homes,
avoiding the cost of conventional base stations. The use of directional
antennas reduces the power requirements (and device costs) and increases
spectrum efficiency. Networks grow to meet demand and can achieve a
higher penetration over a larger geographic area than other systems. Mesh
Radio could provide a platform for residential broadband that is practical in
suburban and semi-rural areas if small, low cost nodes can be implemented.
It would therefore give significant economic benefits in any country that
implements it. The creation of an open interoperability standard would help to
create confidence in a mass-market, encouraging investment in essential
devices. Allocation of spectrum at 40GHz accompanied by a positive
regulatory environment could kick-start the process.

INTRODUCTION
Governments are keen to encourage the roll-out of broadband interactive multimedia services
to business and residential customers because they recognise the economic benefits of e-
commerce, information and entertainment. Digital cable networks can provide a compelling
combination of simultaneous services including broadcast TV, VOD, fast Internet and
telephony. Residential customers are likely to be increasingly attracted to these bundles as
the cost can be lower than for separate provision. Cable networks have therefore been
implemented or upgraded to digital in many urban areas in the developed countries.
ADSL has been developed by telco’s to allow on-demand delivery via copper pairs. A bundle
comparable to cable can be provided if ADSL is combined with PSTN telephony and satellite
or terrestrial broadcast TV services but incumbant telco’s have been slow to roll it out and
‘unbundling’ has not proved successful so far. Some telco’s have been accused of restricting
ADSL performance and keeping prices high to protect their existing business revenues.
Prices have recently fallen but even now the ADSL (and SDSL) offerings are primarily
targeted at provision of fast (but contended) Internet services for SME and SOHO customers.
This slow progress (which is partly due to the unfavourable economic climate) has also
allowed cable companies to move slowly.
Nevertheless, ADSL is likely to become available to a high percentage of homes in urban
areas at high enough rates for a residential multimedia bundle (c.5Mbit/s) and at low enough
cost in time. Many experts believe that ADSL will be cheaper than new cable in many areas
and it will therefore be the only broadband option available to some customers. However, a
significant proportion of customers in suburban and semi-rural areas will only be able to have
ADSL at lower rates because of the attenuation caused by the longer copper drops. One
solution is to take fibre out to street cabinets equipped for VDSL but this is expensive, even
where ducts are already available.
Mesh Radio is a new approach to Broadband Fixed Wireless Access (BFWA) that avoids the
limitations of point to multi-point delivery. In the opinion of the author it could provide a
cheaper ‘3rd Way’ to implement residential broadband that is also independent of any existing
network operator or service provider. This paper explains what it is, how it works and how it
can compete with the other systems including FTTC/VDSL. It then discusses the issues that
need to be addressed and the case for an open interoperability standard and an appropriate
regulatory environment.

LIMITATIONS OF POINT TO MULTI-POINT SYSTEMS

BFWA has been heralded as an alternative access technology for many years but it has been
relatively unsuccessful so far. In the UK, Tele-2 has had some success in providing point to
multi-point (PMP) telephony and fast (ish) Internet using the 3.5GHz band. The BWIF
consortium (led by Cisco until they pulled out) also targeted this band for their ‘non-line-of-site’
VOFDM system. ETSI/HIPERMAN is currently considering it (among others). However the
3.5GHz band and the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz ISM bands are too narrow to allow for on-demand
delivery of high QOS services like digital TV. The ISM bands are also subject to interference.
It is generally recognised that the licensed 26/28GHz and 40GHz bands are the most practical
options for true broadband. 26GHz is allocated to BFWA in many European countries and a
number of systems have been developed. However, there are few commercial services even
to business customers. The UK regulators recently tried to auction spectrum at 28GHz to
promote competition and to extend the coverage of broadband services but with very limited
success.
This is mainly because the Local Multipoint Distribution (LMDS) systems used require a base
station with high power amplifiers and sectorised antennas on tall towers. These are normally
placed in locations carefully selected for maximum line-of-site coverage. Even so estimates of
coverage vary between 40-70% within a 2-3Km radius cell. The base station (and customer)
equipment is expensive, mainly because volumes are low. The cost of site rental (ideally on a
tall building) or the mast etc. is also high. These costs have to be shared by all of the
customers served and so a high customer density is required to achieve break-even. This
means that LMDS could only ever be comparable in cost to cable or ADSL in densely
populated areas and only if a mass-market develops.
The high costs and poor coverage make development of a mass-market unlikely but there is
another problem. PMP systems are also spectrally inefficient because the same frequencies
cannot be re-used within a sector. If 4 sectors are used the ETSI/HIPERACCESS system
(recently specified) would require all of the 3GHz available at 40GHz to provide 5MHz to
c.26% of homes in a 2Km radius cell. The percentage would be less if the cell size is larger. In
reality the amount of spectrum available would also be less because Radioastronomy
services use 1GHz in some areas and because gap fillers would be needed to increase the
coverage in many cases.
Many claim that another possible reason for the failure of the 28GHz auctions is that provision
of backhaul links for 3 rd Generation Mobile Telephony (3G) was prohibited. However, point-to-
point links (or Mesh Radio) would be more efficiently than PMP for this application anyway.

MESH RADIO
Mesh Radio uses point-to-point links between nodes mounted on customer’s homes to form a
mesh, avoiding the cost of conventional base stations. The term has been applied to the
Nokia ‘Rootop’ system and others operating at low frequencies that do not use directional
antennas. These systems can only provide highly contended fast(ish) Internet services.
For the Mesh Radio systems described here, each customer node contains a number of
remotely controlled directional antennas that can be independently pointed towards other
nodes with line of sight. The resulting gain allows low power amplifiers to be used. This is
important because GaAs devices are required and high power devices are currently difficult
to manufacture at the high frequencies used and they are therefore expensive. The use of
directional antennas also makes it possible to re-use frequencies many times, significantly
increasing spectrum efficiency. It is believed that a Mesh Radio system could provide 5Mbit/s
to all of the customers in an urban area equivalent to an LMDS cell with only 1GHz of
spectrum.
Customers are served via a series of links that avoid obstructions such as trees and
buildings, as shown on Fig 1. It is therefore possible to reach a much higher percentage than
for LMDS. The inherent flexibility also makes it possible to extend coverage more easily,
enabling larger geographic areas to be served.

Core Network (fibre) Business

Customer

Figure 1 – Mesh Radio Network

The network grows as demand increases and can self-heal by re-routing if an intermediate
node fails or is switched-off. It can also connect to an existing fibre point (e.g. one feeding a
corporate customer), allowing connection to any core network and making it practical to
change if necessary. All of these factors mean that the cost per customer could be
significantly lower than for LMDS, providing a mass-market can be developed to bring the
cost of the nodes and the fibre connections to a low enough level.
MARKET EVOLUTION
The growth of a mass-market is much more likely for Mesh Radio than for LMDS, partly
because the factors listed above reduce the risk to network providers. This could make it
feasible to provide services in suburban or semi-rural areas with low subscriber densities
where cable and ADSL are unlikely to be available. Realistically, mesh radio should not be
able to compete directly with cable and ADSL in urban areas of the UK but if the current slow
progress continues it may prove attractive to some service providers. However, it would
definitely be competitive in urban areas of countries without a developed communications
infrastructure. There is therefore a huge potential mass-market for Mesh Radio.
Radiant Networks of Cambridge/UK (1) have developed a proprietary Mesh Radio system
and they are providing equipment for a number of trials. Caly Networks (2) were also
developing a system in the USA but they recently went into receivership, mainly because of
concerns over the risk of investing in new technology and uncertainty about the telecoms
sector. Both focussed on services to corporate and SME customers because operators
believe there is a market for alternatives to telco Megastream services. The 26/28GHz band
has sufficient capacity to meet this demand and (some) operators have invested in licenses.
The first generation nodes from Radiant Networks therefore use these bands.
BT is investing in a trial of Mesh Radio in Wales in order to investigate its suitability for
delivery of future mass-market services. This is very significant given that they have invested
huge amounts in the development of FTTC/VDSL over a considerable time and are very
active in the FS-VDSL initiative. Mesh Radio can offer a similar service capability to VDSL
and is inherently more flexible. However, it must cost the same or ideally less if it is to be
viable. This is true for near term business services because telco’s can install FTTC/VDSL (or
SDSL with single or multiple lines) to compete with any Mesh Radio offering that is
introduced. It will also be true for future mass-market offerings which will require second
generation equipment operating in the 40GHz band.
When these become available the 40GHz band will (in the opinion of the author) become the
logical choice for business services also. It is then very likely that initial installations in any
area will target business customers first in order to build up coverage and then expand.
Operators considering Mesh Radio should therefore allow for a migration to the new band in
the future and press for the 40GHz band to be opened up as soon as possible.

ISSUES TO ADDRESS
A number of technical and commercial issues need to be addressed for a mass-market
implementation. Low cost, unobtrusive mesh radio nodes are required and past experience
shows that they are most likely to be developed if the consumer electronics industry works
towards a common standard.

Size/Cost
The current Radiant Networks nodes have 4 horn antennas that can be physically rotated
around a central spindle, as illustrated in Fig 2. This allows 4 links to be set up to other nodes
with line-of-sight. This gives an acceptable level of redundant routing to avoid interruption to
service when a node becomes unavailable in most cases. The nodes are similar in size to a
fire extinguisher and, although they would be fine for business applications in the near term, it
is unlikely (in the opinion of the author) that they would be acceptable to the general public.
There could also be safety problems as the nodes would be mounted on poles above the
roofline in most cases. The Caly Networks approach was based on an electronically steerable
antenna. This is extremely desirable as it could allow use of
a single antenna. However, their design could only steer
over a 1200 arc and it would have been necessary to use 2
or more in many cases. A major challenge will therefore be
to design a small electronically steerable antenna that can
be implemented at low cost. One company already
believes it can do this but it remains to be proven.
Although the Radiant Networks nodes may seem complex
the major cost element is actually the RF amplifier (one is
used in TDM in each node). The GaAs devices required
are very difficult to produce in volume and it will be
necessary to invest in new processes to improve the yield.
New devices will also be required for the modem etc. but
the processing required is much more readily implemented
as it is comparable in complexity to existing systems for
digital satellite/terrestrial TV and ADSL. In order to achieve
the low costs required for a mass-market, it will be
necessary to create an environment where device vendors
and consumer electronics (not telco) manufacturers can
invest with confidence. Figure 2 – Radiant Networks
Node/Antenna Array
Providing an overall system specification is agreed it would
be possible to define specifications allowing manufacturers to compete openly and so
produce interoperable nodes and associated indoor units in the most cost effective way
possible. This would encourage innovation and although it could result in a wide range of
different node designs being used it would allow the best approaches to be identified.

Standards
Creation of open interoperability standards (covering the antenna system, pointing and
location, PHY and MAC layers at least) at an early stage would help to avoid the introduction
of competing proprietary systems which could result in market fragmentation. It would also
enable all the industry sectors that stand to benefit from the creation of a mass-market to
influence its development. These include video and Internet service providers, core and
access network providers (especially new ones), system integrators, device manufacturers,
consumer electronics manufacturers, retailers and installers. There are a considerable
number of issues that need to be addressed and many of these would benefit from
standardisation.

Interfaces
The main interoperability requirement is clearly for an air interface but it is also probably
necessary to standardise the interfaces between the outdoor and indoor units. This would
allow customers to purchase these units from different suppliers and make it easier to
upgrade/change the equipment in the home. It may also be desirable to define the interfaces
between the indoor unit and the customer equipment if only to ensure that they align with
existing standards for service interfaces. This would not be necessary if the indoor unit is
integrated into another unit such as a set top box.

ATM/IP
The Radiant Networks system is based on ATM but the Caly Networks approach was IP
based. Although ATM can be used to transport IP, the industry trend is clearly away from
circuit switched systems and towards packet switching. This is partly because QOS can now
be implemented for digital TV services. Apart from anything else the IP approach can
significantly simplify the network management system which could otherwise become a
significant element of the overall costs of a Mesh Radio system. It will therefore be very
important to fully evaluate both approaches before committing to a mass-market system.

Physical Layer
The modulation and coding layer options are now well understood and there have been many
VLSI implementations of bandwidth and power efficient systems for satellite and terrestrial
TV, ADSL etc. that switch between different modes to optimise performance. Trellis Coded
Modulation is now becoming practical and should therefore be considered very seriously. The
channel bandwidth and frequency plan for a new system operating at 40GHz will also have to
be selected carefully to optimise the cost/performance trade-off, particularly for links to the
fibre connection points.

Medium Access Control Layer

Once again it would be desirable to investigate the features of existing systems to determine
whether any of them fit with the PHY layer. It would be necessary to define how all the basic
modes of operation can be implemented and to allow for signalling. However, it may not be
necessary to implement the complete set in all cases.

Broadcast Mode
Mesh Radio is not inherently suitable for broadcast TV and it would almost certainly be used
to complement an existing satellite or terrestrial broadcast delivery system in most cases.
Nevertheless, it would be desirable to define a common approach to multicasting to avoid the
carriage of multiple versions of the same TV signal e.g. for areas where there is no terrestrial
TV coverage before analogue switch-off or for niche channels after switch-off.

SPECTRUM AND REGULATIONS

In order to create confidence in a mass-market it will also be necessary to persuade
regulators to make suitable spectrum available and to adopt an appropriate regulatory
regime. The UK represents a good test case because the government is actively seeking a
means of using radio for broadband (there are several relevant ongoing consultation
exercises). A successful roll-out of Mesh Radio in the UK would set a pattern for most other
areas of the world and companies involved in implementing networks in the UK would
therefore gain a significant first mover advantage.
It is important to learn from experiences with the 26/28GHz bands. Even though the available
spectrum is relatively limited it could be sufficient for corporate applications, especially if
Mesh Radio is used. However, the regulations are complex and there are very tight technical
constraints. These are aimed at ensuring harmonised use of the band but they also increase
equipment complexity and cost. There are also targets set for roll-out and ‘use-it-or-lose-it’
conditions to enforce them. The question is: if companies that have paid for licenses cannot
find a way to make money out of them who else would be able to do it?. None of the licenses
are held by companies that wish to block progress!. There are also problems with type
approval and planning permission.
The 40GHz band is (in the opinion of the author) the most practical band for a video rich
bundle of services (higher frequencies and optical systems suffer from excessive attenuation).
It is also available world-wide. A Mesh Radio system could deliver 5Mbit/s to a high
percentage of users in an urban area simultaneously using only 1GHz of spectrum, as
discussed earlier. If and when that became practical at low cost 40GHz would also become
the logical band for business services.
Ideally, 1GHz should be allocated for time division duplex (TDD) systems including Mesh
Radio, in a contiguous band rather than in split bands, as required for frequency division
duplex (FDD) systems. This would probably not be popular with the PMP manufacturers
(because FDD is normally used) but, as 3GHz is available (except in some areas where the
upper 1GHz is used for Radioastronomy), a 1GHz allocation would still leave up to 2GHz
available for FDD or other applications.
Mesh Radio is completely new and it can be introduced independently of any existing network
or operator. There is therefore an opportunity to introduce a 3rd platform for residential
broadband (and business) services that is open to all service providers. Mesh Radio could
literally transform the telecoms landscape in any country that implements it and (in the opinion
of the author) it is therefore desirable to enable its introduction as soon as possible.
One way to encourage this would be for the UK regulator to issue pilot licenses enabling trials
and commercial services at 40GHz to start soon and to actively plan for the allocation of full
licenses in around 2 years time (for TDD and FDD in different bands). Given that it will take
time to establish a market and to implement low cost equipment it would be best for the first
full licenses to be allocated via a ‘beauty contest’ rather than an auction. Ideally, those that
take up the pilot licenses and achieve good progress towards achieving penetration of
broadband services (particularly in areas where it is not otherwise available) should be
considered favourably in the allocation of full licenses.
Work to define the conditions of the full license and the technical parameters that it is based
on should start as soon as possible and progress in parallel. This should include definition of
the band plan and radio parameters such as spectrum masks etc. as well as investigations
into simplification of the type approval and planning processes. These are non-trivial tasks
that will take all of the time available even if no major problems are encountered.

CONCLUSIONS
Mesh Radio has significant benefits compared with PMP systems which come about through
the use of directional antennas to set up a series of point-to-point links between nodes on
customers homes. As well as avoiding the need for a conventional base station this reduces
the power requirements (and device costs) and increases spectrum efficiency. Networks
grow to meet demand and can achieve a higher penetration over a larger geographic area
than other systems. Mesh Radio could therefore provide a 3rd platform for residential
broadband to compete with cable and ADSL in urban areas that is also practical in suburban
and semi-rural areas.
Mesh Radio is completely new and it can be introduced independently of any existing network
or operator. This could enable smaller service providers to compete on an equal basis for
delivery of video rich services such as fast Internet and video-on-demand for the first time
giving significant economic benefits in any country that implements it.
If this goal is to be achieved it will be necessary to implement small, low cost Mesh Radio
nodes and this will require the volume production of essential devices. The creation of an
open interoperability standard would help to create confidence in a mass-market and it is
therefore desirable in order to encourage investment.
Allocation of spectrum at 40GHz accompanied by a positive regulatory environment could
provide a catalyst to kick-start the process. The UK Government is keen to role out BFWA
and the Radiocoms Agency is consulting on the use of the 40GHz band. In the opinion of the
author they should allocate pilot licenses for 1GHz of spectrum dedicated to TDD systems as
soon as possible to allow trials and commercial services to start. They should also initiate
work (with industry) to define the technical and commercial conditions for the allocation of full
licences in around 2 years time, ideally via a ‘beauty contest’.
Assuming a suitable industry body starts work soon, it should be possible to complete the
definition of an open interoperability standard within two years also. If all the necessary
activities proceed on schedule it might be possible to start rolling out a mass-market Mesh
Radio system in around 4 years. This depends on a high degree of commitment from all the
bodies involved and on the development of processes allowing implementation of GaAs
devices at low cost. Even if it takes longer Mesh Radio will eventually happen and companies
that stand to gain from its introduction (Internet and video service providers, new network
operators and consumer electronics companies world-wide) should start to actively support
its development.

REFERENCES
1. Radiant Networks Website – www.radiantnetworks.co.uk
2. Caly Networks Website – www.calynet.com