802.15 - PAN, BAN, mesh, etc

IEEE 802.15 | Wireless Personal Area Networks

• wikipedia
  
• IEEE Standards Association
  

• wikipedia
  
• Task group 5 (Mesh Networking) Mesh Networking of Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs)
• Mesh Networking| An MIT Media Lab project has developed the XO-1 laptop or "OLPC" which is intended for under-privileged schools in developing nations and uses mesh networking (based on the IEEE 802.11s standard) to create a robust and inexpensive infrastructure. The instantaneous connections made by the laptops are claimed by the project to reduce the need for an external infrastructure such as the internet to reach all areas, because a connected node could share the connection with nodes nearby. A similar concept has also been implemented by Greenpacket with its application called SONbuddy.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.11s
  
• While still in a preliminary development stage, the 802.11s draft is supported by a wide variety of industry leaders. The One Laptop per Child[2] project uses the 802.11s draft standard for itsOLPC XO laptop and OLPC XS school server networking. A reference implementation of the 802.11s draft is available as part of the mac80211 layer in the Linux kernel, starting with version 2.6.26[3].
  

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networking
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_wireless_mesh_networking

• Mesh Networking in Mining and Industrial | Mines and industrial sites are becoming increasingly more networked. Emerging safety requirements in the US and internationally, demand real-time wireless communications for voice and data. Process control and other operations are increasingly monitored by hand-held data devices and/or centralized IP video. These new networking applications create expectations of high performance over many wireless "hops" (node to node relays), with dependable support for video, voice, and data. 
  

• 802.15 | Task Group 6 (BAN) | This task group is focusing on BAN or Body Area Network Technologies. The goal is a low-power and low-frequency short-range wireless standard

• IEEE launches new working group for Body Area Network tech | By David Chartier | Published: December 06, 2007 - 12:25PM CT | The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) this week approved the formation of a working group for IEEE 802.15.6. Otherwise known as a "body area network" (BAN), 802.15.6 is a low-frequency technology intended to endow a future generation of short-range electronics—both in body and on or around it—with a wireless communication standard for exchanging information. How far into the future this standard and any electronics that utilize it will arrive, however, is anyone's guess; presently, there is no official timeline for ironing out the standard. (...)
  

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_community_network
  
• History | These projects are in many senses an evolution of amateur radio, and more specifically packet radio, as well as an outgrowth of the free software community (which in itself substantially overlaps with amateur radio). The key to using standard wireless networking devices designed for short-range use for multi-kilometre Long Range Wi-Fi linkups is the use of high-gaindirectional antennas. Rather than purchasing commercially available units, such groups sometimes advocate homebuilt antenna construction. (...)  As with other wireless mesh networks, three distinct generations of mesh networks are used in wireless community networks. In particular, in the 2004 timeframe, some mesh projects suffered poor performance when scaled up.
• Organisation | Organizationally, a wireless community network requires either a set of affordable commercial technical solutions or a critical mass of hobbyists willing to tinker to maintain operations. Mesh networks require that a high level of community participation and commitment be maintained for the network to be viable. The mesh approach currently requires uniform equipment. One market-driven aspect of the mesh approach is that users who receive a weak mesh signal can often convert it to a strong signal by obtaining and operating a repeater node, thus extending the mesh network.Such volunteer organizations focusing in technology that is rapidly advancing sometimes have schisms and mergers. The Wi-Fi service provided by such groups is usually free and without the stigma of piggybacking (internet access). An alternative to the voluntary model is to use a co-operative structure.