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Radio Resources
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Transceivers and matching antenna systems are organized by operating
frequency. Commercially available equipment documentation and modification
information is available, however, sources are not. Sources of equipment
change too frequently to track, however, the plans, modifications, and
equipment manuals are redistributable, and we want to focus on being a
clearinghouse for this type of information.
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10GHz Equipment
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Most equipment operating at 10Ghz and up are used in point-to-point modes, due
to the bandwidth of the carrier and the directionality of the waves at this
frequency. Operation in this band, in the US is restricted to Amateur Radio
Operators. I have heard of a potential opening for NII freeband unlicensed
radio operation in this region, but I am not certain.
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5GHz Equipment
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Most equipment operating at 5Ghz and up are used in point-to-point modes, due
to the bandwidth of the carrier and the directionality of the waves at this
frequency. However, 802.11a specifies equipment operating up to 54mbit/sec
in this band. I have not seen any commercial equipment in this band.
Because this is a new band, equipment will be expensive, however, it will
drive down the cost of 2.4Ghz 802.11 equipment. This also means that the
5GHz operators will be sparse, while 2.4GHz will be teeming with devices.
It's gonna be ugly...
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2.4GHz Equipment
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Equipment in this band is both point-to-point and station in nature. Amateur
Radio operators and 802.11 freeband users share this medium, along with a
myriad of other wireless consumer devices with microwave ovens operating
nearby. This band is fixin' to become the ghetto of wireless networking.
Equipment operating in this band commonly operates at 11mbit/sec, however,
802.11g will introduce 20mbit/sec speeds soon.
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900MHz Equipment
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Equipment in this band is both point-to-point and station in nature. A lot
of legacy, pre-802.11 equipment was built for this freeband. 900MHz passes
through objects much better than frequencies higher 1GHz, making links a
bit more tolerant to obstructions (usually foliage). The 900MHz band is
also crowed with cheap consumer equipment, but is not as congested 2.4GHz.
Equipment operating in this band generally tops off at 2mbit/sec.
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UHF/VHF (900Mhz and below) Equipment
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Most equipment operating here is operated by Amateur Radio operators. Early
Packet radio networks operated at 110,300, and 1200bits/sec. Plans for
higher bit rate equipment exist and are in operation.
Recently some freebands have opened up in this area such as MURS, the Multi
Use Radio Service, operating between 150Mhz and 154Mhz. Equipment up to
19k2bit/sec may be possible in this band. Propogation of VHF/UHF signals
can allow the transmissions to reach stations beyond line-of-site using
ducting or scattering of waves off of layers of the atmosphere and the
ground/water.
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Biological Carriers
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Most equipment operating here are Avian, however, some dogs, and humans can
be trained to also deliver messages from point A to point B. Avian
carriers are more versatile due to their use of flight. A little feed, TLC,
and a sturdy, dry roost is all it takes to keep a good Avian packet network
going. While the RFC and some implementations call for the use of strips of
paper, a much better method would be the use of an RFID tag that can transfer
entire files or individual messages. The latency of these networks make any
session based application awfully slow, and therefore should only be used
as a messages/file transfer system.
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