Wi-Fi BY CDOT

C-DOT has built the expertise to design and develop Wi-Fi access points to meet the country’s needs

The Wi-Fi interface is now a global standard for high-speed Internet access and is available on all client devices be it smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc. Wi-Fi is a part of the 3GPP standards as one of the dominant radio technologies which recognizes the benefits of Wi-Fi.

Over the last 20 years, the worldwide standard, IEEE 802.11 has evolved – it has gone from enabling Internet access at 2 Mbps to over 10 Gigabit speeds today.

IEEE 802.11 is the technical name for WiFi that provides wireless communications within a wireless local area network (LAN), to an access point (AP) or wireless router which is also known as a hotspot. The broader IEEE 802 set of LAN technical standards, specify a set of media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication.

The evolution of WiFi has happened in the following key attributes:

•             Greater Speed offered to devices through

•             Support for the higher order modulation schemes

•             Transmission of multiple streams

•             Support of higher bandwidths

•             Improvement in network efficiency and capacity

•             Introduction of MU-MIMO(Multiple User-Multiple Input Multiple Output)

•             OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access)

Wi-Fi 6 is the next-generation wireless standard that’s faster than the current 802.11ac. More than speed, it will provide better performance in congested areas, be it large open areas like stadiums or personal device-packed homes. Wi-Fi 6 was officially introduced in late 2019, and Wi-Fi 6-enabled hardware was released throughout 2020.

Apart from the traditional use of Wi-Fi as a hotspot, C-DOT has also been deployed in multiple locations such as Meerut in UP and Akola in Maharashtra, Point-to-Point Links over Wi-Fi.

The 802.11ax standard will replace 802.11ac as the de facto wireless standard over time. Wi-Fi 6 offers up to 10 Gbps speeds, uses less power, and is more reliable in congested environments with better security.

Wi-Fi Journey in C-DOT

With Wi-Fi deployments to cover the entire country, it is immensely important to strengthen the indigenous manufacturing ecosystem. And to provide an impetus to the indigenous manufacturing ecosystem, C-DOT has built the expertise to design and develop Wi-Fi access points to meet the country’s needs.

IEEE 802.11 is the technical name for WiFi that provides wireless communications within a wireless local area network (LAN), to an access point (AP) or wireless router.

As the Wi-Fi standards have evolved, C-DOT has walked hand in hand with the technology and provided access points as per the latest standards.

Wi-Fi to fulfill the Need for faster Broadband

Broadband has become a necessity. It has an impact on social and economic development. There are various means to carry this broadband data — Wi-Fi being one such.

It enables transmission in the license-free band, is very economical, and is quick to deploy. Public Wi-Fi networks should be future-proof, scalable, maintainable, and open standards-based to provide controlled, unhindered and unbiased bandwidth shared among the TSPs, ISP, and Government usage on a need basis at any location of the island.

The network architecture should be cost-effective and built with minimum CAPEX, shelter, solar-powered equipment, and bandwidth on commercial terms and conditions.

It should require less space, easy to install and operate. Communication technologies for rural and urban need to meet the following requirements:

•             Provide high-speed broadband connectivity for community services.

•             Be reliable and rugged to work in Indian environments

•             Require low power and be operational on alternative sources of energy like solar powered

•             Have an attractive price/performance ratio

•             Works with easily available, low-cost end-user equipment such as low-cost smartphones, etc.

•             Preferably be maintenance-free or at most require low-skill maintenance

•             Be easily and locally repairable

•             Not in demand for special operating environments like air-conditioning.

C-DOT BBWT (Broadband Wireless Terminal) Wi-Fi solution addresses all these requirements of urban, semi-urban, and rural populations.

C-DOT Wi-Fi equipment (in 2.4 and 5 GHz ISM bands) has the capability of extending connectivity from GP to Village over a 5 GHz Wi-Fi Point to Point (P2P) link.

The PM-WANI scheme is completely a technical scheme and does not provide any commercial framework for the PDOA’s and APP Providers to operate. This provides the flexibility to the PDOA’s and the APP Providers to define their internet plans and tariffs based on the business case.

It was proposed as a low-cost, faster-to-deploy solution for connecting villages under the Bharat Net program.

A Pilot was proposed by CDOT in a few villages for demonstrating the capability of P2P links for connectivity as well as for providing village-level Internet coverage using Wi-Fi hotspots.

C-DOT has always ensured that the access points designed are rugged for outdoor use in rural environments as well as defense requirements. Apart from the traditional use of Wi-Fi as a hotspot, C-DOT has also deployed the P2P link in multiple locations such as Meerut in UP and Akola in Maharashtra, Point-to-Point Links over Wi-Fi.

Further Proliferation of Wi-Fi in India

Broadband proliferation in a vast country like India where there are significant differences in demography depends on a large number of WiFi service providers. Most of them have to come forward to meet the NDCP 2020 goals of hotspot deployment.

It is recognizing the impact and reaches that can be offered by Wi-Fi, the Govt. of India launched the PM-WANI scheme in December 2020. Under this scheme, the complete Wi-Fi network which was earlier installed and maintained by one entity has been unbundled based on functions within the architecture and been distributed to different sub-categories of service providers, like:

• PDO – Public Data Office which offers the last mile internet service to the user and is responsible for maintaining the Wi-Fi Access Point.

• PDOA – Public Data Office Aggregator who offers the functions of Authorization and Accounting to the PDO’s.

• APP Provider – Responsible for Authentication of the end user and offers a user-friendly APP for the user to discover and select the PM-WANI hotspots.

Under this framework, any PDOA will be able to work with any APP Provider. Interoperability of the PDOA and the APP Provider is ensured, through the presence of the Central Registry.

The Central registry is responsible for the certification of the PDOA and the APP Provider and has the database of the PDOA, the underlying hotspots of the PDOA, and the APP Provider.

New unlicensed players such as Public Data Office Aggregators and APP Providers have been introduced under this scheme to offer safe, secure internet access to the end users.

The scheme not only aims to improve broadband proliferation in the country but also offers employment opportunities to Village Level Entrepreneurs to act as PDOs and Software startups to either become the technology providers for PDOA Stack and APP Provider solutions or become PDOA/APP Providers themselves.

The PM-WANI scheme is completely a technical scheme and does not provide any commercial framework for the PDOAs and APP Providers to operate. This provides flexibility to PDOAs and APP Providers to define their internet plans and tariffs based on the business case.

PDOAs are currently experimenting with the scheme to identify various financial models which will be profitable for them. Unavailability of internet backhaul, and difficulty in getting access to locations in public places such as bus stops, railway stations, etc, have dampened the growth of PM-WANI. DoT is now closely working with all the Ministries to facilitate the roll-out of the PM-WANI network. DoT is engaging with all the PM-WANI stakeholders also for the opportunities.

Innovations in Wi-Fi by C-DOT

• Local Content Server Integration: C-DOT has integrated the Wi-Fi solutions with the Local Content Server, so that even without internet access, users can access education and information content hosted on the Local Content Server.

• DVB-T2/S2 Integration: C-DOT has also integrated the Wi-Fi solution with DVB-T2/S2 to provide access to the terrestrial and satellite channels over Wi-Fi. This would help in reducing the load on 4G backhaul when multiple subscribers are streaming Live channel content on their phones and also provide access to educational channels in villages.

Till date, C-DOT has facilitated 51 PDOAs and 45 APP providers with the PM-WANI India Stack. It makes the PM-WANI technology seamless so that service providers can focus on the network operations and on building a successful business model.

Role of C-DOT in PM-WANI

C-DOT has played a key role in PM-WANI. Be it the design and development of the PM-WANI Central Registry within one month or the Central Registry for onboarding PDOAs and APP Providers.

After the scheme was launched, C-DOT observed a lacuna in the space of PDOA and APP Provider technology providers. C-DOT then started the development of the PDOA and the APP solutions. To date, C-DOT has facilitated 51 PDOAs and 45 APP providers with the

PM-WANI India Stack. It makes the PM-WANI technology seamless so that service providers can focus on the network operations and on building a successful business model.

By Jayanta Mandal & P. Charumati, CDOT

feedbackvnd@cybermedia.co.in