A Low-Cost Efficient Wireless Architecture for Rural Network Connectivity
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Introduction
Many rural regions around the world, especially in developing regions, do not have good connectivity
solutions which are economically viable. As a result, many of these regions remain disconnected
from both the rest of the world and from progress in general. In this proposal, I will describe
the design of WiFi-based Rural Extensions (WiRE), a new wireless network architecture that can
provide connectivity to rural regions at extremely low costs. The WiRE architecture is tailored for
the typical rural landscape in several developing regions, in which the population is spread across
small but scattered rural regions (less than 1-2 sq kms) within 100-200 kms of the city. WiRE
is designed to be a wireless distribution network that extends connectivity from the city to each
village.


Motivation: Need for Low-Cost Rural Connectivity
As of Internet World Stats 2007 [28], the Internet penetration in North America is 69.7% of the
population compared to 10.7% in Asia and 3.6% in Africa primarily restricted to urban areas. The
fundamental problem in connecting rural regions is economics [34, 9, 8]. None of the traditional
wire-line connectivity solutions (fiber, broadband and dial-up) are economically viable for such
regions over at least the next decade due to low user densities [34, 15, 9]. Satellite networks provide
great rural coverage but at very high costs: the ISP rate for 1 Mb/s of satellite connectivity in
Africa exceeds $3000/month [3].



WiRE Network Architecture
In this section, we describe the WiRE network architecture and discuss important real-world chal-
lenges in deploying rural wireless networks based on our experiences. Figure 2 describes the basic
WiRE network architecture. Unlike the traditional cellular model of providing broad coverage,
the design philosophy of WiRE is to provide focused coverage within specific rural regions where
connectivity is most required. The WiRE architecture has six important network components:
1. wireless nodes which are low-power single board computers that have the capability to support
multiple wireless cards for different network links.
2. point-to-point links using highly directional antennas to provide network connectivity over
long distances in the range of 50 − 100 kms.
3. point-to-multipoint links using sector antennas to distribute connectivity to multiple endpoints
within relatively short distance lasting a few kilometers.
4. multi-radio mesh links using omni-directional links to extend wireless coverage within small
local regions.
5. cellphones or low cost computing devices with WiFi-enabled interfaces that can act as end-
devices.