TFA Network
The TFA network is an operational, large-scale, wireless multi-hop network of multi-tier architecture. Since September 2004, it has been deployed in Southeast Houston, TX by Rice University 1 in conjunction with the non-profit organization Technology For All (TFA), in order to provide wireless access to under-resourced communities.
The TFA Network
As of June 2008, it consists of 18 wireless nodes that provide coverage to an area of 3 km2 and it is still under expansion. So far, it has provided service to more than 4000 users.
The TFA network is of a multi-tier architecture. First, it consists of an access tier in which clients connect to APs that provide coverage in the neighborhood. Second, a backhaul tier wirelessly interconnects the network APs, primarily to forward client traffic from and towards the wired gateways. Finally, a capacity injection tier distributes capacity across the network. In particular, a single AP is connected to a 100 Mbps fiber gateway, whose capacity is further distributed through directional links to 3 APs that are equipped with additional radios for this purpose. Those links operate in separate channels, different than the one of the backhaul tier. Employing such a multiple tier architecture allows coverage provision over a large area at a low cost, as the deployment cost is dominantly determined by the number of wired gateways.
A detailed description (GPS coordinates, MAC and IP addresses etc) of the TFA Access Points can be found here.
1 J. Camp, J. Robinson, C. Steger, and E. Knightly, "Measurement driven deployment of a two-tier urban mesh access network," in Proc. ACM MobiSys, Uppsala, Sweden, June 2006. ⇑