Community Wireless Networks, Participatory Media and CitizenEmpowerment'

1
Community Wireless Networks, Participatory Media
and Citizen-Empowerment.

• Sascha D. Meinrath
• Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network
  (CUWiN)
• Institute of Communications Research, University
  of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Available Online http//www.saschameinrath.com/wr
  itings.html
• Correspondence Sascha Meinrath
  sascha_at_cuwireless.net [phone]
• 115 West Main Street, Second Floor
• Urbana, IL 61801
• U.S.A.
• Presented at the Educause Net_at_Edu Conference in
  Tempe, AZ, Feb. 6-8, 2005

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Overview

• What are Community Wireless Networks?
• Mesh CWN example CUWiN.
• What are the social/community benefits and
  technological possibilities?
• How do the technologies work and what are the
  different options available?
• Where can I find out more?
• But first (literally)

3
Community Media Historically

• 1700s Newspapers
• 1840s Telegraph
• 1900s Telephone
• 1920s Radio
• Post WWII Television/Public Access TV
• Today Broadband (Internet) Connectivity

4
Community Wireless Networks

• Small, usually non-profit, unincorporated,
  municipally supported, hybrid partnerships
• Locally based
• Usually utilize off-the-shelf hardware, low-cost
• Action-oriented
• Mission to support social economic development
• Highly experimental

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CUWiNs 4-Part Mission

• Connectivity
• Provide Internet connectivity to network users.
• Development
• Program software and build hardware for use by
  other wireless projects throughout the United
  States and around the globe.
• Dissemination
• Distribute open-source software and hardware
  specs to interested people and organizations.
• Implementation
• Build and support sustainable, not-for-profit
  communications networks in communities throughout
  the world.

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Social Benefits for Residents

• Every citizen has the opportunity to be a media
  producer broadcasting Internet radio,
  self-publishing journalism, displaying art
  projects, etc.
• Churches can webcast religious services make
  spiritual resources available online.
• Local libraries can become a hub for free, open
  access to information. Parks, swimming pools,
  beaches, sports facilities, airports, train
  stations, and other public areas can provide
  Internet access to users of these areas.
• Free wireless kiosks can be placed strategically
  around a municipality to provide information to
  tourists, visitors, and residents.

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Social Benefits for Educators

• Universities, colleges, and K-12 classrooms can
  cheaply establish wireless networks creating
  tremendous infrastructure and maintenance savings
  versus wired networks.
• Teachers can design lesson plans collaboratively
  with other classrooms, track student progress,
  and record grades on parent-accessible websites.
• Students can publish online newspapers/blogs,
  create a school web-radio station, or web-cast
  news produced in multimedia classrooms.
• Bridging the digital divide low-cost wireless
  offer schools high-tech resources, as well as
  additional opportunities for adult education and
  distance learning.

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Social Benefits for Public Health

• Health-care providers can transfer information to
  patients with limited mobility as well as
  exchange patient information among doctors,
  clinics, pharmacies, and hospitals.
• Mobile home healthcare workers and social workers
  can more easily chart their daily rounds and
  retrieve and send information to better serve
  patients.
• Physical therapists can demonstrate specific
  exercises to patients watching from their homes.
• Nursing homes can provide residents with
  entertainment, educational opportunities, and
  easy communication with family and friends.

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Social Benefits for Government

• Wireless networks facilitate e-government
  initiatives such as online voter registration,
  directions to polling stations, bill payment,
  access to tax advice, and public service
  announcements.
• Unemployment and social services offices can
  collect and disseminate information about job
  opportunities, job training, and child care
  facilities available in a community to those in
  need.
• First responders and law enforcement officers can
  send data, audio, and digital video to command
  centers for evaluation and rapid response.
• CWNs can be utilized as a local broadcaster to
  webcast town meetings, city council sessions,
  local speeches, or cultural events.

10
Social Benefits for Business

• Wireless infrastructures offer job creation
  opportunities as businesses take advantage of
  lower barriers to market entry and the advantages
  of high-speed, low-cost communications.
• CWNs promote mobile workforces with on-demand
  information access at all points across a town or
  city.
• CWNs allow for cost-effective marketing
  strategies and new ways to present points of sale
  to targeted customers.
• CWNs create opportunities to increase broadband
  penetration, expanding options for reaching
  commercial audiences.

11
CWN Technologies

• Wired vs. Wireless
• Hub Spoke vs. Mesh
• Closed vs. Open
• Static vs. Dynamic

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Wired Networks

• 1840s technology
• Expensive
• Disruptive
• Entrenched

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Wireless Networks

• Cheap
• Non-invasive
• Mobile/Portable
• Ubiquitous?

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Hub Spoke Networks

• Centralized
• Relatively expensive
• Line of site
• Bandwidth-intensive
• High-power
• Single point-of-failure

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Mesh Networks

• Decentralized
• By-passes obstacles
• Relatively cheap
• Low-power

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Closed Networks

• Proprietary
• Expensive software
• Immature technology
• Factionalizes communities

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Open Networks

• More secure
• Cheap/free software
• Open source
• Allows community resources on the network

18
Static Networks

• Fragile
• Non-scalable
• Time-intensive

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Dynamic Networks

• Robust
• Scalable
• Adaptable

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CUWiN Network (Sept. 2004)
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Downtown Urbana Wireless Plan
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The Rationale Behind Community Wireless Networks
I
Christian Sandvig ltcsandvig_at_uiuc.edugt

• Low SES
• Medium Density
• Government Subsidized Housing

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The Rationale Behind Community Wireless Networks
II
Christian Sandvig ltcsandvig_at_uiuc.edugt

• Medium SES
• Medium Density
• Immigrant Community

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The Rationale Behind Community Wireless Networks
III
Christian Sandvig ltcsandvig_at_uiuc.edugt

• High SES
• High Density
• Young Professional Neighborhood

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Other People's Networks (OPeN)
Blue circles standard consumer WAP Red
circles CWN w/ OPeN enhancement Purple
details are links created across blue WAPs Red
(CWN) nodes act as clients. Blue nodes only used
for layer 2 transport In this example a route is
created over OPN from A-D D-E E-C etc. that
by traditional methods would not be possible
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Conclusions

• CWN technology is accessible.
• CWNs are a viable technological alternative.
• CWNs are a cheap deployment option.
• CWNs offer more services to end users.
• CWNs are cheaper for end-users.
• Like the Internet itself, CWNs create new media
  production and information dissemination
  opportunities limited only by our own
  imaginations.

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For More Information

• Sascha D. Meinrath CUWiN Free Press
• sascha_at_cuwireless.net www.cuwireless.net www.freep
  ress.net/wifi
• Power Point presentation will be available online
  at
• http//www.saschameinrath.com/writings.html