SCHOOL ON DIGITAL RADIO COMMUNICATION FOR RESEARCH & TRAINING IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Dated: Tuesday, 17 February 2004
By: José F. Manzano de Armas
manzano@cphr.edu.cu
Centro de Protección e Higiene de las Radiaciones
Cuba
URL: http://www.cphr.edu.cu

Activities just began at 9.00 with the lecture "5GHz technologies, 802.16 protocol and WiMAX" given by Prof. E. Pietrosemoli. A brief analysis was given about the evolution of broadband wireless.

The 802.16 standard is specifically designed for the outdoor Metropolitan Area Network, with a range up to 40 Km. Also support technologies that increase coverage including mesh topology and ''Smart Antenna'' techniques. The professor explained about the purpose of WiMAX that is to promote deployment of broadband wireless access networks by using a global standard and certifying interoperability of products and technologies.

WiMAX comprises of industry leaders who are committed to the open interoperability of all products used for broadband wireless access.
Support IEEE 802.16 standard
Propose and promote access profiles for the IEEE 802.16 standard
Certify interoperability levels both in network and the cell
Achieve global acceptance
Promote use of broadband wireless access overall
WiMAX intends to foster a more competitive BWA marketplace by specifying minimum air-interface performance between various vendors' products and certifying products that meet those performance benchmarks.
For network operators this means interoperability between equipment vendors
For equipment vendors this means fewer product variants
For component vendors this means larger series
For end-users this means faster and cheaper access which is more widely available
After Lunch was present an interesting lecture titled "NoCat Auth" by Rob Flickenger, the author of three O'Reilly books, HYPERLINK "http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/wirelesscommnet2/" Building Wireless Community Networks, 2nd Edition, HYPERLINK "http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxsvrhack/" Linux Server Hacks, and HYPERLINK "http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/wirelesshks/" Wireless Hacks and is currently working on promoting community wireless networking through efforts like HYPERLINK "http://freenetworks.org/" FreeNetworks.org and HYPERLINK "http://nocat.net/" NoCat.net.

NoCat Auth has the characteristic of be a Cross-Platform captive portal implementation for TCP/IP, dynamical firewall provider port restriction and bandwidth throttling based on user's credentials, cryptographically sound third-party authentication without the need for additional software on the client and Free. The client requirements are a standard web browser that supports SSL and JavaScript, a compatible wireless card and credentials (Username and Password). The requirements on the gateway side are minimal: the system was designed to run under Linux 2.4.x, on a 486 with 16 Mbytes of RAM.

We finish the day in the laboratory working in the configuration of different wireless network and in the power measurements on a RF chain.