Rice University's Networks Group has partnered with Technology For All (TFA) to deploy a multi-tier wireless network in an under-resourced community in Houston's East End. The project began in late 2003 and the first node was deployed in September of 2004. The network serves over 4,000 users as of November 2007. The deployment employs fully programmable network nodes and serves as a first-of-its-kind research testbed for large-scale urban wireless networks.
The architecture has three hierarchical wireless tiers: an access tier to connect homes, businesses, and mobile users to the infrastructure; a backhaul tier to forward traffic to and from gateways; and a capacity injection tier in which directional links aggregate to the fiber gateway.
Click here to see the splash page that users of the network see.
