[wsfii-discuss] CUWiN/UIUC Partnership Awarded $500, 000 NSF Grant To Develop High-Performance Open Source Mesh Wireless Technologies.

Sat Jul 22 09:14:59 UTC 2006

Hi Sascha,

Well done! The first deployments of CUWiN community mesh networks in
South Africa are doing well. With a lot of new local interest in mesh
networks we're following your project with big expectations.

Regards,
Kobus

Meraka Institute
CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa
kroux at meraka.org.za

On Thu, 2006-07-20 at 08:46 -0500, Sascha Meinrath wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Thought this would interest folks...
> 
> --Sascha
> 
> ***
> 
> July 20, 2006
> 
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> 
> Contact:
> 
> Sascha Meinrath, CUWiN Executive Director
> 217-278-3933 x30 sascha at cuwireless.net
> 
> Ross Musselman, CUWiN Outreach Coordinator
> 217-278-3933 x31 rgmussel at cuwireless.net
> 
> ***
> 
> CUWiN/UIUC PARTNERSHIP AWARDED $500,000 NSF GRANT TO DEVELOP NEXT GENERATION
> OPEN SOURCE MESH WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES.
> 
> University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign partners with CUWiN to build
> high-performance, robust open source wireless mesh networking technologies.
> 
> The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $500,000 in grant funding to
> support a research and development partnership between the Champaign-Urbana
> Community Wireless Network (CUWiN) and the University of Illinois,
> Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).  This initiative, "Toward building a
> Performance-Predictable Wireless Mesh Network", focuses on the development of
> wireless routing protocols, network testing systems, and gateway discovery in
> open-source technology.  The grant, part of the Network Technology and Systems
> Program of the NSF, provides support over a three-year period.
> 
> "CUWiN is building the next generation of mesh wireless technologies.  Most
> importantly, CUWiN is releasing our software under an open source license --
> allowing communities, municipalities, organizations, and individuals around the
> world to deploy low-cost alternatives to current proprietary systems." stated
> Sascha Meinrath, CUWiN Executive Director.
> 
> Community and municipal wireless networks have gained tremendous attention in
> recent years. The ultimate objective of this CUWiN/UIUC partnership is to
> incorporate research results and system prototypes into production code to be
> widely distributed by CUWiN. With the help of CUWiN, the research to be carried
> out by UIUC researchers will make a real impact and effect high-throughput,
> cost-effective broadband access both for the U.S. and worldwide.
> 
> "I am extremely pleased with the fact that NSF recognizes the importance of
> carrying out research on a real multi-hop wireless network. CUWiN provides us
> with a city-wide research testbed to understand how, and to what extent,
> wireless links are affected by PHY/MAC attributes and other environmental
> factors.  All the measurements we make on CUWiN will help characterize the
> behavior of wireless links and identify control 'knobs' in the MAC/PHY layers
> with which the network capacity can be optimized." Principal Investigator,
> Jennifer Hou, stated.
> 
> CUWiN's mission is to help bridge the digital divide by developing low-cost,
> open source, wireless technologies and making them available to community and
> municipal networks around the world. CUWiN networks have been established in
> urban settings like Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., as well as rural
> places like the Mesa Grande Indian Reservation near San Diego, California,
> and Apirede, Ghana.  CUWiN continues to expand its development testbed in
> Urbana, Illinois in partnership with the City of Urbana and the University of
> Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
> 
> "The wireless technologies being developed by CUWiN as a part of this initiative
> hearken back to the innovation and vibrancy of early Internet development."
> stated Ross Musselman, CUWiN Outreach Coordinator. "With a focus on maintaining
> Internet freedom, these new technologies support digital inclusion around the
> globe."
> 
> For more information on this initiative, contact the CUWiN team at:
> E-mail: cu-wireless-support at cuwireless.net
> Phone: +1 217 278-3933 x31.
> 
> Sign up for the once-a-month CUWiN e-mail news list at:
> 
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/cu-wireless-announce
> 
> 
> 