Today's Broadband Wireless
Cost, Coverage, and Capacity:
Pick Any Two
The Laws of Physics, for wireless, define RF signal attenuation, which imposes fundamental constraints for all wireless networks:
- To maximize capacity, wireless networks demand close proximity.
- To minimize costs, wireless networks demand long range.
The mutual exclusivity of close proximity and long range leads to the expression: “Cost, Coverage, and Capacity: Pick Any Two”. You simply can't have all three simultaneously. Your choices are:
- Low cost and long range, but with low capacity (example: point-to-point Wi-Fi)
- Low cost and high capacity, but only at short range (example: omnidirectional Wi-Fi)
- Long range and high capacity, but at a high cost (example: proprietary point-to-point)
To illustrate the trade-offs, consider the decisions of a broadband wireless architect. A base station can provide high capacity to subscribers in close proximity but, as always, capacity diminishes with distance. Resolving capacity degradation requires either higher costs (i.e. covering the same area with more sectors) or reducing coverage range (i.e. covering the same area with more towers).
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Redefining Broadband Wireless
Cost, Coverage, and Capacity: Pick Any Three
With the SyncMesh protocol, a single tower can service a much larger coverage area by extending its reach through multi-hop networking, which serendipitously enables closer proximity to subscribers along each hop. The integration of backhaul, relay, and base station provides an economical solution, and the network-wide synchronization of transmissions maximizes overall capacity. As a result of this systematic approach to broadband wireless networking, SyncMesh uniquely accomplishes the seemingly mutually exclusive goals of low cost, extended coverage, and improved capacity. SkyPilot thereby redefines broadband wireless to the expression: “Cost, Coverage, and Capacity: Pick Any Three”.
