From: pschleck@cwis.unomaha.edu (Paul W Schleck KD3FU)
Subject: Packet Radio Internet Extension (from DEVEL-L)
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 22:40:10 GMT

[Note:  This was forwarded to me from someone who reads the DEVEL-L
mailing list.  Note that the frequencies used in this project (430-450)
may not necessarily be a ham band in ITU Region 1 or Hungary.

Hope you find it as informative as I did.]

73, Paul W. Schleck, KD3FU

pschleck@unomaha.edu
 
>Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1992 14:15:39 -0800
>From: "(Edwin Brownrigg)" <ebb@OTLET.BERKELEY.EDU>
>To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <DEVEL-L@auvm.bitnet>
>Subject: PRIE
 
                      Report
                        on
                   the Budapest
    Packet Radio Internet Extension Demonstration
                  October 6, 1992
                  Edwin Brownrigg
               Open Access Solutions
                        and
                  Dewayne Hendricks
               Tetherless Access, Ltd.
                   October 12, 1992
 
                       ABSTRACT
 
 This paper describes a project recently undertaken in
 Budapest, Hungary.  It discusses why and how terrestrial
 packet radio was demonstrated as a feasible technology
 for wirelessly extending the Internet.  Details are
 provided regarding the interface between the wireless
 link and the Internet, and the link itself.  Some
 conclusions are drawn regarding the feasibility and
 desirability of packet radio as a means of providing
 Metropolitan Area Networks and Wide Area Networks in
 Hungary and other Central European Countries.
 
 
 Sponsorship
 
 The United States Agricultural Library was the sponsor
 of the project under the direction of Pam Andre,
 Associate Director for Automation.  The Library at North
 Carolina State University administered the project.
 Tetherless Access, Ltd. and Open Access Solutions were
 the contractors.
 
 
 Goal:
 
 The goal of the Budapest project was to demonstrate the
 technical feasibility of using packet radio as an
 interface to the Internet, thus establishing the
 potential for low cost international connectivity for
 the Central European Agricultural Libraries.
 
  Objectives:
 
  1.     To demonstrate the potential for sharing
         documents (both ASCII and bit-mapped images)
         electronically via the Internet.
 
  2.     To establish a packet radio link between a
         conference site and the Hungarian Academy of
         Science, an Internet site.
 
  3.     To connect the packet radio link to the
         Internet, thus establishing a packet radio
         Internet extension (PRIE).
 
 
  Setting
 
 The setting for the demonstration was Budapest, in
 particular a building in Buda and another building
 across the Danube River in Pest.  The distance was
 approximately 10 km.
 
 We obtained written permission in advance from the
 Hungarian government to use frequencies in the 433-450
 band for the packet radios as well as for voice
 communication.
 
 
 
 The Link
 
 One end of the link was at one of the buildings of the
 Hungarian Academy of Science, an Internet node.  The
 Academy building, although tall, is surrounded by other
 tall buildings.  The other end of the link was a
 Conference Center, north of the Academy.  It flanked by
 very tall trees on its south side and is around a
 bend of the Danube River from the Academy.  The majority
 of the distance between the two points is open air over
 the river.
 
 Even with the distance between the two points of the
 link, two watt  radios, omnidirectional antennae, and
 the lack of a clear line of sight between the two sites,
 with persistence, we established a connection.  The
 best signal was obtained by the placement of the antenna
 at the conference center as high as we could get it in
 an area that was not blocked by obstructions.
 
 
 The Internet
 
 Prior to the demonstration it was confirmed that we
 could interface to the Internet via an Ethernet network
 that was in place at the Academy.   That required us to
 bring along a Kinetics FastPath gateway unit to connect
 the Ethernet to the LocalTalk network that the Apple
 Macintoshes require.  We accomplished the connection to
 the Internet at the Academy by our second day in
 Budapest.  We had only a slight problem determining how
 to configure the FastPath to the local network.  We had
 expected some difficulty in this area and were pleased
 that it went as smoothly as it did.
 
 
 Observations
 
 As we had expected, the TELNET speeds and response time
 of the Internet in Budapest were relatively slow.
 However, we were able to accomplish useful work through
 the Internet, and, in the brief time available to us,
 from the link.  Such work is routinely and operationally
 done a
 
 Conclusions
 
 o     The feasibility of future use of packet radio
       in Hungary.
 
 It is clear to us, based on our first-hand experience in
 Budapest with a packet radio extension of the Internet
 that one or more such extensions would be entirely
 feasible.  At the same time, as our experience
 highlighted, such packet radio extensions of the
 Internet will not be implemented merely by acquiring
 some number of packet radios.  Any extensions must
 be conceived of, planned and managed as network
 solutions, of which the packet radios are one means of
 implementing that solution.  The staffing of the network
 both before and after installation is critical to the
 successful planning, deployment and operation of a
 packet radio network extension.  Thus, staffing must be
 taking into account in the overall network extension
 budget.
 
 o	The Academy staff
 
 This report would not be complete without special
 mention of the Academy staff.  Their cooperation and
 efficiency added greatly to the success of this project.
 This highlights the necessity of taking into account the
 critical importance of having support and cooperation
 from the organization that is going to provide access to
 the Internet for packet radio extensions.  In particular
 the efforts of Mr. Sandor Manno and Mr. Lajos Monostori
 of the Academy staff were most appreciated.
 
 o	The apparent availability of spectrum
 
 The issue of availability of spectrum in general in
 Central Europe was beyond the scope of the immediate
 project, but we believe that it deserves some
 speculation here and further factual exploration.
 
 Through readings and conversations we had been led
 to believe that in recent history the spectrum was
 scarce in Hungary and elsewhere in Central Europe, due
 to its heavy use by the occupying Soviet armed forces.
 Whether this was true or not, in the project we found
 the spectrum to be relatively clear in the bands that we
 were licensed to operate.  We speculate that there may
 be an abundance of spectrum that can be used to develop
 a telecommunications infrastructure in Central Europe
 and suggest that this would be a fertile area of
 investigation.
 
 For more information, please contact:
 
      ebb@otlet.berkeley.edu
      dewayne@netcom.com
-- 


-- 

Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.packet