Project background and justification
The general quality standards
of Internet service providers in developing countries tend to be low as
compared to developed ones. Total service downtime is frequent; when
service is available, high congestion is common, resulting in slow,
limiting, and erratic services and overall low user experience.
Moreover,
bandwidth costs in developing countries tend to be high – in fact much
higher than in developed countries. In rural areas, the situation
worsens with costs for service increasing as service quality decreases.
The success and viability of any Internet network operating under
these realities hinges on finding ways to successfully maximize the
number of users per available bandwidth with minimal impact on their
experience. The erratic and problematic nature of many upstream
connections makes it difficult to provide good Internet service to
subscribers while being dependent on a single upstream provider for the
whole network.
Finding ways to effectively and economically
increase redundancy through use of multiple providers is therefore
essential. Where Internet connectivity is available, usage patterns
have a profound impact on bandwidth congestion and hence user
experience. While some of the most-often used applications and
protocols (for example, email, web browsing, VoIP, social networks)
tend to consume relatively little bandwidth, services such as
peer-to-peer (P2P, for example, Kaaza, emule) applications can easily
lead to available bandwidth being “hogged” by a few users. Developing ways to successfully address such “hogging”
will ensure better overall user experience as well as increase the
number of users per available bandwidth (commonly referred to as
“oversubscription ratio”).
Project summary
The main obstacle to building broadband Internet networks in rural areas is the low economic viability of constructing such networks when expensive commercial technologies to reach relatively few and dispersed users are used. The high cost of Internet upstream bandwidth, particularly in rural areas, where providers tend to be few, adds significant challenges. Further, frequent long hours of total service downtime and high congestion are common, often resulting in slow, limiting, and erratic service.
One of the necessary conditions for ISPs operating in such areas is in finding ways to ensure uninterrupted Internet connectivity and maximizing the utilization of available bandwidth with minimal impact to the user.
The AirJaldi team worked on the development of a unique set of solutions for this challenge, collectively referred to as the “Bandwidth Maximizer” (BwM). Essentially, AirJaldi’s BwM will combine tools for identification and prioritization of traffic with local content caching and filtering with peering-optimization tools. This will enable the use and load-balancing of multiple upstream connections based on traffic prioritization and bandwidth costs*.
In this proposal we seek funding for streamlining and sharing our achievements in this field to date, as well as for laying the foundation for further essential work in this field, to be carried out with future additional funding.
The expected results of this proposal are:
- A prototype bandwidth maximizer integrated and operational on a working network – the AirJaldi Network in Dharamsala.
- Integration and component configuration of the working prototype documented and summarized in manuals to be made publically available along with the source-code.
- The technical and financial benefits of the BwM clearly demonstrated and documented.
- Outlining further work needed for improving the product and making it suitable for easy replication.
Organization profile
AirJaldi is a social enterprise established in February 2007 following more than two years of intensive field work focused on developing connectivity solutions that address the challenges of building viable wireless broadband Internet networks for rural areas of developing countries.
Our proven ability to provide successful solutions for transcending the last mile in rural areas is based on the integration of affordable “best of breed” technologies, the ability to leverage the immense resources of the F/OSS community, and the unique combination of first-rate R&D work with in-depth knowledge of operational realities in developing countries.
Our first network, “The Dharamsala Community Wireless Mesh Network”, began in 2004 as a modest project to connect a small number of institutions in the Dharamsala area, and grew to become an economically viable wireless network that is one of the biggest of its kind in Asia. It now interconnects over 2,000 computers within a radius of about 70 kms around Dharamsala and provides its users with broadband Internet access, VoIP-based telephony, community portals, email, video conferencing, and web hosting.
AirJaldi is presently managing a smaller network in Dherradun, Northern India, and is negotiating to build a number of additional networks in India and elsewhere in Asia.
The modular structure, small and affordable relay nodes, low ecological footprint and richness of services of our networks attracted much attention and interest. Our work was at the center of an international conference entitled “AirJaldi: Empowering Communities through Wireless Networks”, held in Dharamsala on October 2006, which brought together some of the leading figures in the field of rural Internet connectivity. Our work received a special mention for excellence at the 2008 Stockholm Challenge Award.
For more information about Airjaldi Networks, visit:
http://www.airjaldi.com/
Information Society Innovation Fund
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