Tropos released version 5.1 of their MetroMesh software, which controls mesh deployments: This release increases capacity, Tropos said in a press release, by using information gathered at mesh end points about the RF environment in which they operate to select or change channels dynamically. In the architecture for city-scale operations that Tropos and EarthLink have described to me, a cluster of several mesh nodes will be paired with each back-haul node. The adjacency of clusters, however, would allow nodes to swap clusters by changing channels or join onto one channel to have more access to backhaul.
The software update also allows edge provisioning, or setting maximum burst data rates for end-users. This is critical for city-wide deployments, where customers will be given no more than 1 Mbps service. The software also ties in authentication with what they describe as "large network operators." Although the text is a bit dense, it describes seamless, session-persistent roaming through secure tunneling, which is akin to Mobile IP as implemented by NetMotion Wireless, for one.
Hi Glenn,
FYI, as far as I know, NetMotion Wireless actually uses its own proprietary approaches, which is not based on the more scalable IETF Mobile IP standards.
Richard
[Editor's note: Thanks for pointing this out. NetMotion Wireless definitely doesn't use Mobile IP, you're correct, but they do a neat approximation of what Mobile IP will look like from a user perspective (one hopes). --gf]