Operators have started to roll out the first generation of municipal wireless mesh networks. These mesh networks compose a wifi hotspot in order to cover a municipal area, in order to provide wireless broadband coverage over the last mile for customer access. These networks have gained a lot of exposure after high profile cities such as Philadelphia or San Francisco have decided to implement one. As these networks operate in a license-free band using commodity hardware platforms, they are viewed as a disruptive technology to provide mobile wireless services. This tutorial will describe the different architectures and protocols for the new wireless mesh networks. As metropolitan wifi networks with high speed data capability become ubiquitous, it is useful to take a long look at the underlying architectures and protocols. Since there are competing architectures and design choices, it is interesting to know the basic differences between them, and if these differences are irreconcilable. Other architectures, such as HSxPA or WiMax are also competing to provide high speed bandwidth to the mobile handset. The tutorial will see how these solutions compare and inter-operate. The tutorial is designed for a half-day presentation of about 180 minutes. Below is a short summary of the topics covered:

Cedric Westphal received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from UCLA in 2000. He has been a visiting researcher at Stanford University from 1997-2000. Since then, he has worked on protocols for mobility in IP networks with Nokia Research Center in Mountain View, California. He currently is one of the lead designers within Nokia for MAC and routing protocols for metropolitan wireless mesh networks. He has applied for multiple patents and published papers on routing in mesh networks and in scheduling from which he will draw for this tutorial. The tutorial will feed both from his industry expertise and his academic research work.