[151728] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: airFiber (text of the 8 minute video)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Greg Ihnen)
Thu Mar 29 14:54:27 2012
From: Greg Ihnen <os10rules@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <09B459CC-91F8-4D0D-B4A3-7B632021990C@cookreport.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:22:53 -0430
To: Gordon Cook <cook@cookreport.com>
Cc: NANOG list <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
Respectfully, the claim isn't a "decline in the cost of backhaul =
bandwidth between 10 and 100 times", the claim is "Operators will be =
able to get 10 to 100 times more data throughput for the same dollar." =
which granted is a very good thing, but it does not imply how much more =
money one would have to spend with a competitor to reach that bandwidth =
level. It is only an assumption that you would have to buy between 10 =
and 100 of the competitor's products and put them in parallel (not =
feasible anyway) to get the same performance thereby costing between 10 =
and 100 times a much. Logically it's possible that the competitor's =
product which matches AirFiber is only penny more, which it's not, but =
that's all one could logically conclude from UBNT's statement - for the =
same price you get a lot more bandwidth _not_ how much more you'd have =
to spend to get that performance level from a competitor.
Ubiquiti gear is shattering price barriers, but I believe the difference =
in cost between their product and their competition's which can offer =
the same bandwidth is less than 10:1 and certainly not 100:1. AirFiber =
is reported to be $3000 a pair (both ends of the link). 100:1 would mean =
the competitor's cost is $300,000. I don't believe anyone else's 24 GHz =
UNLICENSED gear is in that price range.
Also keep in mind this is unlicensed gear (think unprotected airspace). =
Nothing stops everyone else in town from throwing one up and soon you're =
drowning in a high noise floor and it goes slow or doesn't work at all. =
Like what's happened to 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz in a lot of places. There's =
few urban or semi-urban places where you still can use those frequencies =
for backhaul. The reason why people pay the big bucks for licenses and =
gear for licensed frequencies is you're buying insurance it's going to =
work in the future.
Greg
On Mar 29, 2012, at 1:53 PM, Gordon Cook wrote:
>=20
> On Mar 29, 2012, at 1:58 PM, Josh Baird wrote:
>=20
>> Anyhow, check the
>> video out on ubnt.com for an introduction and technical overview -
>> it's worth watching.
>=20
> The claim is a huge decline in the cost of backhaul bandwidth for =
wisps between 10 and 100 times. I have just finished the preparation of =
an extensive article on a nebraska wisp whose network is backhaul radios =
on towers about 5 miles apart. he is on over 100 towers across a space =
of 150 miles by roughly 40 miles
>=20
> here is the text of the video which indeed is very good
>=20
> Robert Pera, CEO Ubiquity: Ubiquity had a lot of strength. We had =
hardware design software design, mechanical design, antenna design. We =
had firmware and protocol design but the one thing that we were missing =
was really our own radio design at our old modem design.
>=20
> Engineer 1: The group of guys who are here have been working together =
for about 20 years. we collectively have a lot of experience in the =
wireless data world - probably more so than any other company. This =
team of people originally were all hired into Motorola, some of us go =
back to the late 1980s. We actually worked on a program called altair. =
Altair was one of the 1st attempts at doing in building wireless =
networking. It was the 1st wireless local area network product ever. =
It was actually the 1st time that I am aware of that anyone had actually =
built a broadband wireless networking product.
>=20
> What we did on altair continued on through Motorola and eventually =
became a product called canopy. Canopy is a very popular product now. =
It is a wireless Internet distribution system used to provide =
high-speed Internet people in houses where there typically is no access =
to cable or to DSL=20
>=20
> Gary Schulz: we had kind of run the canopy product through its =
maturity and did not see a lot of additional room for growth there. =
When the ubiquity management approached us, we were looking for the =
opportunity to continue to build new stuff and that's what made it very =
interesting to come over and work for Ubiquity Because their focus is =
on the new stuff. It is on working on high speed and low cost.
>=20
> The freedom to design at our level was just go and do it. What are you =
going to do? it was like start with a clean sheet of paper. start with =
nothing. We could build and design this product in any way we saw fit. =
The idea was just to be the best we could.
> air fiber is the start of the new product line within Ubiquity. It is =
the 1st of several products that are highly efficient, high data rate, =
wireless broadband products.
>=20
> Greg Bedian: Our design is something that is a little bit crazy. We =
are trying to build a 0 IF radio at 24 GHz and do this for a 100 MHz =
bandwidth which is something that I am not sure anyone else has been =
crazy enough to try.
>=20
> Chuck Macenski: As fast as you can send a packet on an ethernet wire =
we can receive it and transmit with no limitations.
>=20
> Air fiber is designed to be mounted in a reasonably high location. It =
is a point to point network where the 2 antennas see each other. this =
is a system that under certain circumstances can work up to 10 miles. =
It is going to be very easy to deploy and align. It is a product that =
is going to require only one person to carry it up the tower and install =
it. There is a display on the bottom that tells you what sort of power =
is being received as well as a very comprehensive web interface.
>=20
> We designed all aspects of it. The modem, the radio, the mechanical =
housing. This is a completely designed from scratch, purpose built =
solution just to deliver backhaul. So it is not based on wi-fi or =
anybody else's standards. As a result it does not suffer from any of =
the other overhead normally associated with that.
>=20
> Built for speed -- if you want to compare the data rates of existing =
products to our product, other products on the market today would give =
you the expected data rate of the flow of water through a garden hose. =
Our product will provide the flow rate of a firehose. This product will =
provide 1.4 Gb per second of data flow which is 300 times faster than =
you would normally be able to get from your own home Internet service =
provider.
>=20
> Operators will be able to get 10 to 100 times more data throughput =
for the same dollar. That is the big impact that this product is going =
to have.
>=20
> Rick Keniuk: we looked at 24 GHz. We actually wanted to do something =
up in high frequency and that happens to be the next unlicensed band =
beyond six gigahertz. You can put it out anywhere. You don't have to do =
anything. No special paperwork. No license fees. Nobody to go get =
permission from to operate the radio. The nice part is that it him =
allows anyone to operate the product and started up without any issues =
of having to get licenses or jump through certain hoops of where you =
can place the product. It is a freedom thing.
>=20
> Inside the air Fiber Design -- As far as I know no one builds a modem =
with this level of sophistication. Most people when the building modem =
commit to custom silicon. But doing it this way is very expensive very =
time-consuming. It is rigid in its architecture. If you make mistake, =
you cannot reprogram it. If someone wants to change a feature, it's =
locked in stone and too late, once it is committed. We call this a =
modem but there may be times that we can actually change the identity of =
it by loading new software into it on the fly. This programmable. It =
is flexible. And it can basically do whatever function you want to do.
>=20
> With most systems, the farther you get away, the longer the amount of =
time that you have to wait for the packet to actually get there. we =
actually have a patent pending that allows us to synchronously send =
packets in between radios. So that packets transmitted from both ends of =
the link and actually meet in space halfway in between. It does not =
have to wait before it transmits. In this case they are both synchronize =
through global positioning And they can send packets simultaneously
>=20
> [This next paragraph is a summary] They point out at the end that in =
the developing world there are many people who given the high scrap =
value of copper are motivated to dig up copper cables between =
transmission centers in order to sell the copper. And furthermore that =
in many cases they go looking for cables and do not understand the =
difference between a fiber-optic cable copper cable. When they find the =
cable, they cut in order to extract it. And when they see it's not =
fiber, they just leave it alone. The nice thing about our solution is =
that other than the radios themselves there is nothing you have to =
protect in between the point-to-point links. [End summary]
>=20
> When you are given an opportunity to try to create something new and =
do something differently than anyone else has done, as an engineer, =
that's always very exciting. Ubiquiti has a reputation for being very =
disruptive in the market place and we found hat very attractive. We =
like to think about products differently than anyone else. It is going =
to be a whole lot less costly and much higher performance than anything =
else that is out there right now.
>=20
>=20
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> The COOK Report on Internet Protocol, (PSTN) 609 882-2572=20
> Back Issues: =
http://www.cookreport.com/index.php?option=3Dcom_docman&task=3Dcat_view&gi=
d=3D37&Itemid=3D61 =20
> Cook's Collaborative Edge Blog http://gordoncook.net/wp/ =
Subscription info: =
http://www.cookreport.com/index.php?option=3Dcom_content&view=3Darticle&id=
=3D54&Itemid=3D65
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>=20
>=20
> On Mar 29, 2012, at 1:58 PM, Josh Baird wrote:
>=20
>> Anyhow, check the
>> video out on ubnt.com for an introduction and technical overview -
>> it's worth watching.
>=20
