By Teresa A. Martin
Wireless has become quite the buzzword lately. And, like a lot of buzzwords it seems to have picked up some extra fuzz around the edges.
Here on the Cape we are on the leading edge of deploying two complementary pieces of the broadband wireless story. But let me start at the beginning.
Lots of us think of “wireless connectivity” as a sort of unified magical solution. We flip open our hardware device and we connect to the world. But there are lots of pieces along the way. The two largest elements of this story are access and transport.
Access is the way we connect to a communications network.
Once upon a time, that access was through a modem that connected our computer to a telephone line – aka “dial in access.” Then, we progressed to being directly connected via cable modem to a cable line or a DSL line. That was “always on access.” We didn’t have to do anything special; our computer was always touching its communication network.
Now we have the ability to connect to our networks via a wireless modem that uses radio waves to bring us access to the network without the use of physical wire or cable. Hence, “wireless access.”
But access alone doesn’t get us anywhere. There has to be something to access! That something is a broadband data transport network.
Transport is the second part of the equation. It is the pipe through which data moves. We use access technology to hook into the pipe. And we use the pipe to move our data out or pull our data in. Without out the pipe, the access has no purpose.
Most often the pipeline is some sort of cable or wire – like the DSL line or cable line coming into our homes or offices. Broadband describes the carrying abilty of the pipe. A broadband network can carry lots of data at the same time; broadband capability is the element that really brought the full usefulness of the online world home. With broadband, information flows quickly from point A to point B, no waiting, no gaps, no pauses.
“Wireless broadband access” means that you’re using a wireless connection to tap into some sort of broadband network.
That’s what Unwired Village is all about. The test installation of Unwired Village is currently underway in downtown Orleans. It is a public wireless broadband access solution. Think of it as being a bit like telecommunication streetlights – if you’re in a public area, you have the ability to wirelessly access a shared broadband network. With Unwired Village, our region will be among the first regions in our state to offer community wireless access in public areas.
But, as the TV infomercial says, and that’s not all! A second collaboration between Cape Cod Community College, CCTC, and a host of others is working to develop wireless broadband data transport network as well.
That’s right. The Open Cape (http://www.opencape.com) initiative is a multi-organizational project with a goal of building a redundant wireless broadband network. This has nothing at all to do with access and everything to do with the pipe itself.
It is a plan to help our region think as find ways to use wireless data transmission technologies to move information from point to point, creating a wireless broadband network across, the Cape, Islands, and SE MA.
Now, on a day to day basis this will impact mostly schools and research organizations ... it will give our educational and research groups a much needed edge and give our students and scientists the sort of data transport that other regions take for granted. It won’t be a commercially available option for most of us ... until the disaster strikes.
Here’s why you really need to care about Open Cape. When the hurricane rips across our peninsula, it will likely take out many of the wired networks. The bridges will shut. Communication connections will fall under the weight of trees, wind, and waves.
It is communications, once we are past the moment of first response, that are the biggest key to recovery. Think of the post Katrina chaos – much of it was caused by the breakdown of communication systems.
In an emergency, Open Cape becomes our redundant data network. With the built in wireless backups and multiple routing options, and with its use of wireless technology, the odds of this network functioning post Cape-Katrina are strong. We will have a data path connecting us to the rest of the world.
And, with the flip of a switch, wireless access via all the Unwired Villages becomes the second part of the story. Open Cape will be the pipeline to connect to while The Unwired Villages provide one means of access to that pipeline.
But wait, there's more! Not only can this be an emergency access point, it can also be a means of delivering location-sensitive information in an emergency. Because the Unwired Village node 'knows' where it is, it can deliver geograhic-specific information. For example, if you're on an Unwired Village in Orleans, you might learn where the nearest Red Cross Shelter is in that town, but if you're in an Unwired Village in Falmouth, you'll see infomration about the Falmouth area Red Cross Shelter. Cool, eh?
Unwired access to a broadband unwired network! And who says the Cape is behind the curve when it comes to thinking about technology and community?
Become a Member
