WiFi-based Long Distance networks are seen as a promising alternative for bringing broadband connectivity to rural areas. A key factor for the profitability of these networks is using license free bands. This work quantifies the current spectrum occupancy in our testbed, which covers rural and urban areas alike. The data mining is conducted on the same WiFi card and in parallel with an operational network. The presented evaluations reveal tendencies for various aspects: occupancy compared to population density, occupancy fluctuations, (joint)vacant channels, the mean channel vacant duration, different approaches to model/forecast occupancy, and correlations among related interfaces.

Rural areas all over the world often lack affordable broadband Internet connectivity. This is particularly, but not solely, true for developing and emerging countries. Also rural areas in western countries share similar problems of high capital expenditure (CAPEX) and especially operational expenditure (OPEX) due to vast and sparsely populated areas, which often present an uneconomical environment for deploying traditional wireless carrier equipment. To address these issues, we have developed a carrier-grade heterogeneous multi-radio back-haul architecture which may be deployed to extend, complement or even replace traditional operator equipment. Our Wireless Back-Haul (WiBACK) technology extends the back-haul coverage by building on cost-effective and low-power equipment while still allowing for effective Quality of Service (QoS)-provisioning. In this paper we first present a pilot scenario in Hennef-Theishohn, Germany, where the residents of a remote farm are provided with broadband Internet connectivity using a long-distance, multi-hop WiBACK network. We evaluate the QoS-related performance of this network and show that we can meet QoS demands one expects from a carrier-grade network even under heavy load conditions

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are often seen as an affordable solution to bring Internet connectivity into rural and previously unconnected regions. To date, the main focus has been to provide access to classical services such as the WWW or email which requires the users to use a personal computer or a recent smart phone. In many developing regions, however, the prevailing end user device is a mobile phone. In order to connect mobile phones to IP-based wireless back-haul networks, the network access points must provide a mobile phone air interface, compatible with GSM or UMTS specifications. Avoiding dependence on a costly mobile operator infrastructure, we propose to deploy GSM or 3GPP nano cells in order to terminate the mobile phone protocols immediately at the local network access points. Therefore, voice or data traffic can be carried over wireless back-haul networks using open protocols such as SIP and RTP. In this paper we present a meshed wireless back-haul network architecture whose access points have been equipped with GSM nano-cells. The voice packets generated by mobile phones are carried across the backhaul network in parallel to typical web or video traffic. We evaluate the QoS handling received by the voice calls across our multi-hop wireless testbed and show that our architecture can provide the resource isolation required to offer uninterrupted VoIP services in parallel to regular Internet traffic.

The combination of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) is challenging due to the different natures of both concepts. SDN describes networks with homogeneous, static and centralized controlled topologies. In contrast, a WMN is characterized by a dynamic and distributed network control, and adds new challenges with respect to time-critical operation. However, SDN and WMN are both associated with decreasing the operational costs for communication networks which is especially beneficial for internet provisioning in rural areas. This work surveys the current status for Software-Defined Wireless Mesh Networking. Besides a general overview in the domain of wireless SDN, this work focuses especially on different identified aspects: representing and controlling wireless interfaces, control-plane connection and topology discovery, modulation and coding, routing and load-balancing and client handling. A complete overview of surveyed solutions, open issues and new research directions is provided with regard to each aspect.

Mobile terminal receivers with unidirectional network interfaces are not considered as a special case in the standardization of Mobile IPv6. For the interaction of unidirectional access technologies (DVB-H, DVB-T) and mobile networks (UMTS, WLAN, WIMAX) in heterogeneous IPv6 environment, there is a challenge for unified mobility and QoS management technologies supporting new interactive broadcast services, such as IP Datacast. This paper discusses protocol enhancements of Mobile IPv6 in order to support interactive QoS based multimedia services in hybrid broadcast and mobile IPv6 environment. Interaction of the Link Layer Tunnelling Mechanisms (RFC 3077) with the Mobile IPv6 and Fast Handovers based on "reverse tunnelling info" is used to provide uniform handover support for broadcast and mobile IP services. QoS management for broadcast access Internet network environment is proposed based on resource reservations for the two directions - downstream connection of the un idirectional broadcast network and return tunnel using wireless access network. QoS information base describing the capabilities of the unidirectional access networks and the IP return tunnel network ("feed") is used for enhanced QoS support of interactive services

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Abstract. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is currently working on the development of Differentiated Services (DiffServ). DiffServ seems to be a promising technology for next-generation IP networks supporting Quality-ofServices (QoS). Emerging applications such as IP telephony and time-critical business applications can benefit significantly from the DiffServ approach since the current Internet often can not provide the required QoS. This paper describes an implementation of Differentiated Services for Linux routers and end systems. The implementation is based on the Linux traffic control package and is, therefore, very flexible. It can be used in different network environments as first-hop, boundary or interior router for Differentiated Services. In addition to the implementation architecture, the paper describes performance results demonstrating the usefulness of the DiffServ concept in general and the implementation in particular.

Dynamic configuration and adaptation of resources for QoS-aware applications in heterogeneous access network environment (UMTS, WIMAX, WLAN DVB-T, DVB-H) using automated tools is a challenge today. The focus of this paper is a toolkit for intelligent management of resource allocation in heterogeneous network infrastructures based on policies of different actors (network operator, service providers and users). Policy based management of resources for QoS-aware applications (Video-on-Demand, Mobile TV) dependent on network capabilities, context learning and preferences of the policy actors is proposed, which enhances the current state-ofthe-art and IETF standardisation. The policy management toolkit includes components for policy specification, adaptation and enforcement, which are interacting using policy repository. The design allows the automated resource adaptation for QoS based applications based on context information and hierarchical dependencies of policy actors. A learning component is integrated in order to discover the context considering measurement and monitoring data. The policy management tookit is discussed, emphasising on ontology driven policy repository design, context learning and flexible scenario-oriented management interfaces for policy specifications