07-07-2014, 01:52 PM
DAKNET:
Rethinking Connectivity in
Developing Nations
DAKNET.pdf (Size: 470.58 KB / Downloads: 88)
ABSTRACT
This paper outlines a migration path towards universal broadband connectivity, motivated
by the design of a wireless store-and-forward communications network.
We argue that the cost of real-time, circuit-switched communications is sufficiently high
that it may not be the appropriate starting point for rural connectivity. Based on market
data for information and communication technology (ICT) services in rural India, we
propose a combination of wireless technology with an asynchronous mode of
communications to offer a means of introducing ICTs with:
• affordability and practicality for end users;
• a sustainable cost structure for operators and investors;
• a smooth migration path to universal broadband
connectivity.
A summary of results and data are given for an operational pilot test of this wireless
network in Karnataka, India, beginning in March 2003.
We also briefly discuss the economics and policy considerations for deploying this type of
network in the context of rural connectivity.
INTRODUCTION
As a government representative enthusiastically talks about the new telephone
for a village in remote rural India, a villager asks, “Who am I going to call? I don’t know
anybody who owns a telephone.” Yet, despite this sensible observation, a phone is
dutifully installed as part of the current government mandate to connect villages to
neighbouring towns. Although some villagers do use the phone occasionally, most still
travel sometimes days to talk to family or to obtain the forms and other data that citizens
in developed nations can call up on a computer in a matter of seconds.
In short, the goal of “broadband connectivity for everyone” has been shelved in
favor of cutting back to the minimum possible standard telephone service in the mistaken
belief that this is the cheapest way to provide connectivity. This compromise is
particularly tragic given recent advances in wireless technology, which make running a
copper line to an analog telephone far more expensive than broadband wireless Internet
connectivity. Rather than backpedal on the goal of connecting everyone, society should be
thinking, How can we establish the kernel of a user network that will grow seamlessly as
the village’s economics develop? In other words,what is the basis for a progressive,
market-driven migration from government seed services- e-governance -to universal
broadband connectivity that local users will pay for?
DakNet, an ad hoc network that uses wireless technology to provide
asynchronous digital connectivity, is evidence that the marriage of wireless and
asynchronous service may indeed be that kernel -the beginning of a road to universal
broadband connectivity. Developed by MIT Media Lab researchers, DakNet has been
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successfully deployed in remote parts of both India and Cambodia at a cost two orders of
magnitude less than that of traditional landline solutions. Villagers now get affordable
Internet services-and they’re using them. As one man in a small village outside of New
Delhi remarked, “This is better than a telephone!”
THE WIRELESS CATALYST
Recent advances in wireless computer networking-particularly the IEEE 802
standards—have led to huge commercial success and low pricing for broadband networks.
While these networks are viewed as mainly for offices or for hotspots in urban areas, they
can provide broadband access to even the most remote areas at a low price. Today,
wireless cell phone and wireless local loop (WLL) service costs roughly a third of copper
or fiber landline service, while packet-based broadband computer networks cost roughly a
ninth of the landline service—and they are far friendlier to data services and to lowergrade
voice service such as voice messaging. These new technologies thus offer
developing countries an opportunity to leapfrog over wireline and WLL telephony
infrastructure to the forefront of broadband communications technology.
Wireless data networks based on the IEEE 802.11, or WiFi, standard are perhaps
the most promising of the wireless technologies. The forces driving the standardization
and proliferation of WiFi in the developed world have resulted in features that can
stimulate the communications market in the developing world. These features include ease
of setup, use, and maintenance; relatively high bandwidth; and, most important, relatively
low cost for both users and providers.
As one demonstration of the practicality of this new technology for rural
connectivity, researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur, working with
Media Lab Asia , have “unwired” a 100-sq km area of the Gangetic Plain in central India.
Figure 1 shows the corridor. This project provides broadband connectivity along a
corridor with almost one million residents, at a projected one-time cost of under $40 per
subscriber. Other experiments have shown the practicality of the technology in
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mountainous terrain and in city centers. Indeed, several cities in the US have begun to
deploy free Internet connectivity using IEEE 802.11b. Even with advances such as those
demonstrated in the Digital Gangetic Plain project, the cost of realtime,circuit-switched
communications is sufficiently high that it may not be the appropriate starting point for
rural connectivity in developing nations.Market data for information and communication
technology (ICT) services in rural India strongly implies that asynchronous service-voice
messaging, e-mail, and so on-may be a more cost-effective starting point for rural
connectivity projects.
Seamless scalability
In addition to its tremendous cost reduction, a critical feature of DakNet is its ability to
provide a seamless method of upgrading to always-on broadband connectivity. As a village
increases its economic means, its inhabitants can use the same hardware, software , and user
interface to enjoy realtime
information access. The only change is the addition of fixed-location wireless antennas and
towers—a change that is entirely transparent to end users because they need not learn any
new skills or buy any new hardware or software. The addition of fixed transceivers would
provide real-time connectivity, thus enabling new, more sophisticated services, such as
voice over IP, which allows “normal” real-time telephony. Thus, as the “Some Common
Myths about Rural Information and Communication Technology” sidebar describes,
asynchronous broadband wireless connectivity offers a practical stepping-stone and
migration path to always-on, broadband infrastructure and end-user applications. Together
with the development of two other key rural communication components—robust, low-cost
terminals and local user-interface design and applications - DakNet makes it practical for
individual households and private users to get connected.
Economics
A back-of-the-envelope calculation for DakNet suggests that a capital investment of $15
million could equip each of India’s 50,000 rural buses with a $300 MAP and thereby provide
mobile ad hoc connectivity to most of the 750 million people in rural India. This figure
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represents a cost that is orders of magnitude lower than other rural communication
alternatives. Costs for the interactive user devices that DakNet supports—including thin-client
terminals, PDAs, and VoIP telephones—may also soon become far more affordable than
traditional PCs or WLL equipment.PDA-like devices using an IEEE 802-like wireless
protocol retail for $100, with a manufacturing cost of approximately $50.System-on-a-chip
technology is lowering these costs even more, potentially enabling wireless PDAs at prices as
low as $25 .
DakNet: A Last Mile Solution
The Internet is the nervous system of our planet and the billions of people who
lack the proper telecommunications infrastructure are seen as the "last mile problem". –
First Mile Solutions
Many technologies have been introduced to the world with in the last 30 years.
Through them we have sent men to the moon and are able to communicate with
individuals face to face from half way around the world. These advances have brought
progress to the USA and other first world countries and have become the standard. It has
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become a vital engine of growth for the world economy. Despite these advances the entire
world has not been able to take advantage of those advancements for several reasons.
Poor telecommunication lines
Lack of local economy for development of infrastructure
Awareness about the technological advantages
The firm First Mile Solutions has taken it upon themselves to start introducing
the information technologies to rural areas in the developing world. Their projects use
existing infrastructures to introduce technologies to villages through unique solutions,
such as “Daknet”. Dak means, “post” in Hindi. Creating an electronic postal network,
complete with electronic “Postmen” (Boyd, Clark).
DakNet Mobile Access Point (MAP) Networks require:
• Appropriate Environment: computers in remote villages that can be accessed by
road transport.
• Approach: MAPs are installed on vehicles that normally pass by each village to provide
store-and-forward connectivity
WIFI
Short for wireless fidelity and is meant to be used generically when referring of
any type of 802.11 network, whether 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band, etc. The term is
promulgated by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Formerly, the term "Wi-Fi" was used only in place of
the 2.4GHz 802.11b standard, in the same way that "Ethernet" is used in place of IEEE
802.3. The Alliance expanded the generic use of the term in an attempt to stop confusion
about wireless LAN interoperability.
Wireless data networks (Wide Area Networks and Local Area Networks) based
on the IEEE 802.11 or “WiFi” standard are perhaps the most promising wireless
technology. Given its popularity in developed nations, it is reasonable to consider the use
of WiFi in developing countries as well. The forces driving the standardization and
proliferation of WiFi in the developed world could also stimulate the communications
market dynamic in the developing world. These features include: its ease of set-up, use,
and maintenance; its relatively high bandwidth; and, most importantly, its relatively low
cost for both users and providers.
Standard WiFi connectivity (IEEE 802.11b) provides up to 11Mb/sec data rates,
and operates in a band near 2.4Ghz that is generally unlicensed in Europe and the Americas.
Newer versions of WiFi provide 22Mb/sec in this band, and versions that operate at higher
frequencies provide up to 54Mb/sec. Tests in rural settings show that a standard WiFi card
(such as commonly used with laptop PCs) can provide good connectivity up to a ½ kilometer
radius given line-of-sight. With the addition of antennas and repeaters, it is possible to achieve
point-to-point connectivity at distances of up to 20 kilometers. WiFi access points (devices
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commonly used to provide a WiFi network) currently retail for $120, and WiFi cards retail for
under $60. WiFi technology opens up new possibilities for rural connectivity in developing
countries. However, the successful implementation of this technology and the choice of usage
model should be guided by an intimate knowledge of rural communities and their
information- and communication-related needs. Our vision is that, provided a conducive
regulatory environment, local entrepreneurs within developing countries will leverage WiFibased
technology to: (a) solve the chicken-and-the-egg problem of the simultaneous need for
both a market and an infrastructure; and (b) create a widespread wireless infrastructure that
grows seamlessly with the rural communications market, ultimately scaling up to universal
broadband connectivity.
MOBILE ACCESS POINT
Daknet offers data to be transmitted over short point-to-point links.It combines physical and
wireless data transport to enable high bandwidth intranet and internet connectivity among
kiosks (public computers) and between kiosks and hubs(places with reliable Internet
connection) .Data is transported by means of mobile access point, which automatically and
wirelessly collects and delivers data from/to each kiosk on the network. Low cost WIFI radio
transceivers automatically transfer the data stored in the MAP at high bandwidth for each pointto-
point connection.
CONCLUSION
DakNet will enlighten rural India to the Internet
The government has proposed to roll out the DakNet Wi-Fi project - involving the
linking up of computers to networks without using wires - as a connectivity medium
aimed at the rural masses.
According to First Mile Solutions founder Amir Alexander Hasson, who helped
initiate the two DakNet Wi-Fi pilot projects in Tikawali, a village near Faridabad,
Haryana, and Dodabalapur district in Karnataka, "We are using IEEE 802.11b equipment
at 2.4 GHz. We don't use base stations, but rather our custom DakNet Mobile Access
Point (MAP) that is mounted on and powered by a vehicle."
Giving the project details, Mr Hasson said, "Essentially, a van roam roams
around the Dodabalapur district in Karnataka, stopping at different villages long enough
for the local computer to connect to it wirelessly and transfer the data stored in it. From
the van to the central database is also a Wi-Fi hop, thus resulting in a wireless end-to-end
transfer of information - which is what Wi-Fi is all about. The project involves creating an
online database of land records."
Essentially, the DakNet-enabled vehicle drives past a kiosk where it picks up
and drops off land record queries and responses. Each day, this is synchronized with a
central database. Data is transported through the access point, which automatically and
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wirelessly collects and delivers data from each kiosk on the network. The transfer of data
can take place up to a radius of 1.25 km around the kiosk.