Experiences: Design, Implementation, and Deployment of CoLTE, a Community LTE Solution

In this paper we introduce CoLTE, a solution for LTE-based community networks. CoLTE is a lightweight, Internet-only LTE core network (EPC) designed to facilitate the deployment and operation of small-scale, community owned and operated LTE networks in rural areas with limited and unreliable backhaul. The key differentiator of CoLTE, when compared to existing LTE solutions, is that in CoLTE the EPC is designed to be located in the field and deployed alongside a small number of cellular radios (eNodeBs), as opposed to the centralized model seen in large-scale telecom networks. We also provide performance results and lessons learned from a real-world CoLTE network deployed in rural Indonesia. This network has been sustainably operating for over six months, currently serves over 40 active users, and provides measured backhaul reductions of up to 45% when compared to cloud-core solutions.

[1]  Genevieve Gebhart,et al.  Zero-rating in emerging mobile markets: Free Basics and Wikipedia Zero in Ghana , 2016, ICTD.

[2]  Jeffrey H. Reed,et al.  Spectrum access system for the citizen broadband radio service , 2015, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[3]  Raja Lavanya,et al.  Fog Computing and Its Role in the Internet of Things , 2019, Advances in Computer and Electrical Engineering.

[4]  Elinor Ostrom,et al.  Governing the commons , 1990 .

[5]  Johnathan Ishmael,et al.  Deploying Rural Community Wireless Mesh Networks , 2008, IEEE Internet Computing.

[6]  Paul Dourish,et al.  Postcolonial computing: a lens on design and development , 2010, CHI.

[7]  Lakshminarayanan Subramanian,et al.  GreenApps: A Platform For Cellular Edge Applications , 2018, COMPASS.

[8]  Attaphongse Taparugssanagorn,et al.  Wireless Edge Network for Sustainable Rural Community Networks , 2018, ANRW.

[9]  Santosh Pandey,et al.  IEEE 802.11af: a standard for TV white space spectrum sharing , 2013, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[10]  Eric A. Brewer,et al.  Scaling Community Cellular Networks with CommunityCellularManager , 2019, NSDI.

[11]  Paul Gardner-Stephen,et al.  Serval mesh software-WiFi multi model management , 2011, ACWR '11.

[12]  J. Grosspietsch,et al.  Geo-Location Database Techniques for Incumbent Protection in the TV White Space , 2008, 2008 3rd IEEE Symposium on New Frontiers in Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks.

[13]  Jon Crowcroft,et al.  Understanding Internet Usage and Network Locality in a Rural Community Wireless Mesh Network , 2015, AINTEC.

[14]  Paul Gardner-Stephen,et al.  The Village Telco project: a reliable and practical wireless mesh telephony infrastructure , 2011, EURASIP J. Wirel. Commun. Netw..

[15]  Lakshminarayanan Subramanian,et al.  Beyond Pilots: Keeping Rural Wireless Networks Alive , 2008, NSDI.

[16]  Vinton G. Cerf,et al.  A protocol for packet network intercommunication , 1974, CCRV.

[17]  Somprakash Bandyopadhyay,et al.  An adaptive MAC protocol for wireless ad hoc community network (WACNet) using electronically steerable passive array radiator antenna , 2001, GLOBECOM'01. IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference (Cat. No.01CH37270).

[18]  Hendrik Lüth.  Toll Road or Dumb Pipe? Economic Perspectives on Net Neutrality , 2015 .

[19]  Jinup Kim,et al.  Local breakout of mobile access network traffic by mobile edge computing , 2016, 2016 International Conference on Information and Communication Technology Convergence (ICTC).

[20]  Stephen Gleave.  Lawful Interception: The mechanics of lawful interception , 2007 .

[21]  Kentaro Toyama,et al.  Where there's a will there's a way: mobile media sharing in urban india , 2010, CHI.

[22]  Francisco-Javier Simó-Reigadas,et al.  The TUCAN3G project: wireless technologies for isolated rural communities in developing countries based on 3G small cell deployments , 2016, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[23]  Mahesh K. Marina,et al.  DIY Model for Mobile Network Deployment: A Step Towards 5G for All , 2018, COMPASS.

[24]  Leandro Navarro-Moldes,et al.  Guifi.net, a Crowdsourced Network Infrastructure Held in Common , 2015, Comput. Networks.

[25]  Sampath Rangarajan,et al.  SkyCore: Moving Core to the Edge for Untethered and Reliable UAV-based LTE Networks , 2018, MobiCom.

[26]  Umer Salim,et al.  RAN as a service: Challenges of designing a flexible RAN architecture in a cloud-based heterogeneous mobile network , 2013, 2013 Future Network & Mobile Summit.

[27]  Shaddi Hasan,et al.  An Investigation of Phone Upgrades in Remote Community Cellular Networks , 2017, ICTD.

[28]  William David Tucker,et al.  Towards a scalability model for wireless mesh networks , 2015 .

[29]  Tess Lanzarotta,et al.  Network Sovereignty: Building the Internet across Indian Country by Marisa Elena Duarte (review) , 2018 .

[30]  Christian Bonnet,et al.  OpenAirInterface: A Flexible Platform for 5G Research , 2014, CCRV.

[31]  Tapan S. Parikh,et al.  A Longitudinal Study of Local, Sustainable, Small-Scale Cellular Networks , 2015 .

[32]  David L. Johnson,et al.  VillageCell: cost effective cellular connectivity in rural areas , 2012, ICTD.

[33]  Leandro Navarro-Moldes,et al.  Topology patterns of a community network: Guifi.net , 2012, 2012 IEEE 8th International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking and Communications (WiMob).

[34]  Lakshminarayanan Subramanian,et al.  WiLDNet: Design and Implementation of High Performance WiFi Based Long Distance Networks , 2007, NSDI.

[35]  Jerome H. Saltzer,et al.  End-to-end arguments in system design , 1984, TOCS.

[36]  David D. Clark,et al.  The design philosophy of the DARPA internet protocols , 1988, SIGCOMM '88.

[37]  Zdenek Becvar,et al.  An architecture for mobile computation offloading on cloud-enabled LTE small cells , 2014, 2014 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference Workshops (WCNCW).

[38]  Kevin C. Almeroth,et al.  Internet usage and performance analysis of a rural wireless network in Macha, Zambia , 2010, NSDR '10.

[39]  Vyas Sekar,et al.  A High Performance Packet Core for Next Generation Cellular Networks , 2017, SIGCOMM.

[40]  David L. Johnson,et al.  VillageShare: facilitating content generation and sharing in rural networks , 2012, ACM DEV '12.

[41]  Eric A. Brewer,et al.  The village base station , 2010, NSDR '10.

[42]  Binh Nguyen,et al.  ECHO: A Reliable Distributed Cellular Core Network for Hyper-scale Public Clouds , 2018, MobiCom.

[43]  Robert Metcalfe,et al.  Ethernet: distributed packet switching for local computer networks , 1988, CACM.

[44]  Jon Crowcroft,et al.  Information-Centric Multi-Access Edge Computing Platform for Community Mesh Networks , 2018, COMPASS.

[45]  Lakshminarayanan Subramanian,et al.  xCache: Rethinking Edge Caching for Developing Regions , 2017, ICTD.

[46]  Kashif Ali,et al.  Local, sustainable, small-scale cellular networks , 2013, ICTD.