Firetide, a provider of wireless infrastructure mesh networks, has collaborated with California State University at Monterey Bay to create a purpose-built permanent outdoor wireless mesh networking test track dedicated to research, development and testing of new mobile communications infrastructures.
California State University, Monterey Bay, allowed installation of the the Firetide Mobility Test Track on university land in exchange for student access to the facility for research and specifically assigned testing projects. Students also receive training and mentoring from Firetide's engineering staff.
The 1.5 mile long test track includes 22 Firetide HotPort 7020 wireless mesh nodes mounted on 11 existing street light poles located 200 meters apart from each other. Two parallel 11-node wireless mesh networks span the length of the track. One network serves as a high-speed backhaul for the entire facility. The other is used for testing mobile infrastructure designs and concepts for mass transportation, industrial transport systems and public-safety vehicles.
All mesh nodes work in concert with Firetide's HotView Pro network management software and Firetide's Mobility Controller.
The track is expected to enable of general mobility testing for free roaming vehicles such as police cars, buses, and emergency response vehicles; linear mobility testing for fixed-route and fixed-rail vehicles such as subways and trains; mobile link redundancy testing; intramesh and intermesh mobility testing; interoperability testing among multi-generation mobile mesh nodes ; and antenna qualification testing.
For more:
- see this Firetide release
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