Doc. #26C

Report to the ARRL Board of Directors

John Champa, K8OCL
ARRL Chairman
High Speed Multimedia Networks Working Group
Technology Task Force
June 21, 2003

Summary

It has been an extremely exciting and productive time for the HSMM Working Group since our last report to the Board. We have clarified our vision statement plus taken on additional projects: Exploration of high speed data on the HF bands, and cooperative projects with TAPR and AMSAT-NA. In addition, our webpage at www.arrl.org/hsmm/ will be enhanced to include valuable emergency communications, homeland security, and how the HSMM Working Group effort fits into The Big Project. These additional goals and objectives are covered in this report.

Vision

The HSMM Working Group goals, as originally set down so creatively by Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, are contained verbatim on our webpage (www.arrl.org/hsmm/). Professor Gerry Creager, N5JXS of Texas A&M University, a key and active member of the HSMM Working Group, has helped us refined those goals. Such periodic reappraisals keep the working group focused.

So, what is our "Vision"? What do we see ourselves doing this all for? The answer isn't always intuitive and certainly varies from individual to individual, but from the engineering side, we think we have reached a consensus.

We are trying to build a technology base, within the confines of the Amateur Radio rules and users, to provide other means for the Amateur Radio community to communicate using what ever data-type they would find necessary and appropriate (multimedia).

What we are trying to foster is a well designed, integrated network infrastructure, with as much network intelligence as possible, and employing sufficient bandwidth to get the task accomplished.

We also have to protect our network resources from unauthorized users. Chris Imlay's recent memorandums to the HSMM working Group have significantly helped us in this regard (see attachment). We have the privilege of using more power, more antenna gain and trying to go for more distance than our Part 15 brethren. But similarly, we have a responsibility to preclude them from our system (barring a communications emergency) because we are expected to have the technical expertise to understand what we are using, and the wherewithal to realize that if something goes awry, we have to stop transmitting.

If an amateur needs to do 30 frames per second CIFS video, we should be able to
accommodate video streaming, or what we like to call amateur digital video (ADV), as well as some finite number of digital voice channels, either point-to-point or point-to-multipoint. Web browsing, plus e-mail transmission and retrieval should also be possible. We would like to provide general amateur radio access to the Internet. We call it the Hinternet. The Board has already authorized the use of the "@arrl.net" facility for members. If the Board will now authorize the ARRL to help work with and organize the 44 domain exclusively for amateur radio use and in support of the HSMM Working Group effort, that would be of significant support.

Using IEEE 802.11b will reasonably give us about an 11 Mb/s half-duplex backbone. It won't be "blindingly fast", but it will support streaming audio and video for those applications where we need it, even if we need to provide some forms of traffic control in order to support some special events or an emergency. We are now experimenting with the new IEEE 802.11g equipment at 54 Mb/s half-duplex to see how it might best be deployed. As other forms of off-the-shelf HSMM equipment become available, we will also endeavor to adapt that technology to the amateur service in the best way feasible.

So, what do we see ourselves doing? Much as the folks who pioneered regenerative receivers and superhet's, we are learning how to give amateurs the ability to use our shared segment of the 2.4GHz and other UHF bands employing existing gear, adding enhancements, and pushing the limits of what "should" work. Just as we always have.

What else do we see us doing? For the network enthusiasts, we remind everyone that the initial releases of what we now know as OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) were seen in the AX.25/TCP-IP world about 13 years ago as Radio Shortest Path First (RSPF) and the concepts were tested on the air. We would like to do the same with the HSMM-HF Project using OFDM modulation schemes, i.e. test them on the air (see attached STA support request).

We are investigating full-mesh network implementations in a manner that will make Cisco shudder. However, we expect we can (and will) attract enough attention to get some vendor support for research in this area. And we envision doing some research in this area as a result of what we're going to need to make this all happen.

Our WG appears to fall into the 3-class Venn Diagram described by Chaos/Anarchy, Democracy, and Autocracy. Thus, someone will decide, or there will be consensus, or in the time-honored APRS manner, someone will just go implement code, and by default, decide for us -- at least until someone else codes up another solution that works better.

We have a lot of options for experimentation. While we do NOT propose to go build our own wireless Radio Interface Cards (RIC) for our computers, we can do a lot of the design for the infrastructure nodes using something like the Soekris computers as a core module, and some manufactures have express interest in helping us modify existing RICs to change power, frequencies, and other parameters. We can try new techniques and if they work we can disseminate them and implement them more widely. We can tune the various network routing algorithms for better performance on a purely wireless infrastructure. We can look at networks that span distances the Part 15 folks would not dream of trying, because we can exploit our power capabilities. And we can try new things.

Applications are not a forgotten element here, but if we don't do the infrastructure well and correctly to start with, the applications will not work as well, or will fail, and we will lose the interest of the broader amateur population who we are trying to help. Thus, it is in our interest to get the infrastructure(s) started, stable, and running and then start the applications race using the extant "stuff": NetMeeting, QuickTime Server, Apache, E-mail., Jabber/AIM,IRC,Domain Name Service, File Servers of common interest, etc. Accordingly we are asking for League support in holding a HSMM WG Linux Infrastructure Conference in August. NOTE: This conference is not concerning general amateur radio applications of Linux as will discussed at the DCC in September. The Texas A&M University has agreed to host the HSMM WG event.

The bottom line is this: We are doing this because it's something we LIKE to do. For us, it's fun. It exercises our minds. It makes us feel good. It is a part of one of our tenets as amateur radio operators.

What the HSMM Working Group is doing is: Engineering, Experimentation, Research, and Applications Development. All of those have been at the core of amateur radio since its beginnings.

World-wide, there is a tremendous shift from Engineering and "Hard" Science (this encompasses mathematics) to "soft" and social "sciences" and business degrees. The National Science Foundation has identified this as a problem for the US, and has programs designed to help encourage students to continue in their studies. In The Big Project the ARRL is beginning the outreach to the kids. We see The Big Project outreach effort as an attempt to encourage these kids to go into Math, Engineering, and/or hard Science. And from what we have seen, we are not encouraging enough of our bright kids to go in that direction with a predisposition toward experimentation, research and development. By showing how amateur radio and the Internet are closely related, we think we can significantly support the goals of The Big Project. In our culture we do not seem to value the folks who do engineering, research and development highly enough to tell our kids that doing these things is a "Good Thing" and it can be fun. The ARRL TTF HSMM Working Group effort can help bring this all together.

Projects

The HSMM-HF Project initially on 6M, and then also on 10M and other HF bands

There are other avenues of investigation which may also yield positive results in terms of the eventual development of a HSMM Backbone Network for the amateur service: The use of HF frequencies!

Accordingly the HSMM Working Group has kicked-off another major research project called The HSMM-HF Project. Neil Sablatzky, K8IT (k8it@arrl.net) has graciously and enthusiastically agreed to lead this new HSMM project. Neil was part of the original Hinternet Team and built the first 2.4 GHz slot antennas for use in early amateur radio 802.11b experiments (see the April 2003 issue of QST for more info).

Details of the initial HSMM-HF Project plans are included in the attached request to the TTF and the ARRL Board for support in obtaining the needed STA. The WG held an hour and a half telephone conference call on the ARRL bridge to discuss the project on the evening of Wednesday, June 11, 2003, between 8-9PM Eastern Time. Neil -- K8IT was available to answer any questions from the participants.

Please see the attached request for Board support in seeking an STA to begin experimentation on the HF bands using software defined radios (SDR) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation. We are also requesting funding support of approximately $6K for purchase of 10-12 sets of experimental hardware.

The TAPR Transverter Project converting 802.11b/g to the 3.3 -3.5 GHz amateur band

TAPR has expressed a serious interest in the development of a transverter to take IEEE 802.11b/g signals to the amateur radio 3.3 -3.5 GHz amateur band. The HSMM WG has agreed to support this effort in any way possible and in conjunction with our own efforts to developed economical bi-directional amplifiers (BDA) for increased range.

AMSAT-NA Transponder Project using in-band 5 GHz transponders

Saving C-Band: A New Transponder Concept by Tom Clark, W3IWIThe Amateur Satellite Service has several microwave allocations in the 1-10 GHz range.AO-40 and the planned Echo satellite have use the L/S combination permitted by using part of the uplink allocation at 23 cm (1260-1270 MHz) in combination with the lower portion of the 13 cm (2400-2450 MHz) band.Unfortunately, theFCC "Part 15" and ISM rules have caused the 13 cm band to be seriously compromised by unlicensed consumer devices -- microwave ovens, 802.11b and 802.11g wireless LANs, cordless telephones, video relay, etc.Another very desirable amateur band is C-Band (5 cm) where the AmateurSatellite Service has a pair of 20 MHz wide allocations: 5650-5670 MHz is set aside for uplinks, paired with 5830-5850 MHz for downlinks. Thisspectrum is also at considerable threat; if it already experiencing theintrusion of 802.11a LANs, cordless phones and other unlicensed applications and has been targeted for expansion by a number of new wireless services. Unless we begin to use this band very soon, it may become a bigger sewer than the 13 cm band has become.This paper presents a conceptual design for an "in band" transponder making use of the pair C-band allocations. Although microwave frequencies imply huge Doppler tuning problems, by placing a single local oscillator midway between the pair of frequencies (5750 MHz) we cancel 97% of the Doppler shift, equivalent to operating at the difference frequency (180 MHz).The HSMM Working Group: Until satellite resources can be deployed, low-cost versions of the transponders can be deployed at terrestrial locations as a wide-band "bent pipe" transponder with bandwidths capable of supporting many digital applications. These terrestrial developments are a logical expansion of the 13 cm "HSMM" or "Hinternet" effort sponsored by the ARRL which makes amateur use of the low-cost commercial hardware.

HSMM WG BDA Project (2.4 GHz) - Call for Practical Construction Articles

The HSMM Working Group has issued a call for BDA construction articles as part of our efforts to develop economical, and when appropriate, slightly higher (4-10 watts) RF power output when using 802.11b. Given the somewhat low density of amateur stations in some parts of the US, path loss analyses clearly indicate that this additional power is occasionally needed to enable amateur radio experimentation between stations when there are long distances involved. If the TAPR transverter project proves successful, then emphasis may be added to also develop HSMM BDA devices for the 3.3 -- 3.5 GHz band.

HSMM Webpage Enhancement Project (Emergency Communications Support)

The HSMM WG webpage will soon be upgraded to include information on the use of HSMM techniques and network developments, not only in day-to-day amateur radio operations, but also in support of EC and homeland security efforts. Although the HSMM WG earlier published handouts at the Dayton Hamvention which spelled out how this could be done, others later went public with the concept. Witness this subsequent e-mail exchange between the assistant chairman of the ARRL HSMM Working Group and the Nation Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST):

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-05/nios-ann052803.php

Mr. Bulman,

Reference the above URL.

Your article has captured the charter of the Amateur Radio Relay League's High Speed Networking and Multimedia Working Group (HSMM WG). Please see our webpage at http://www.arrl.org/hsmm.

If you have additional questions about or group's activities or ideas for deployment and implementation, we would be more than happy to hear from you.

Currently our thrust is to deployment IEEE 802.11b/g networks operating under Part 97 of the FCC rules across the country mainly supporting emergency communications. This is in addition to the historic communications that amateur radio operators have provided local, state and the federal government for almost a century when emergency communications have been needed.

Very Best Regards,

Walt DuBose/K5YFW
Asst to the Chairman,
HSMM WG

To date we have received no reply from Mr. Bulman or NIST.