Portable WLANs
802.11-based WLANs are typically considered for indoor applications, but they also implement mature standards for outdoor line-of-sight and mesh-type deployments that are potentially supportive of field-based studies. The power requirements of a standard access point are within range of standard consumer battery technologies and alternative power sources, so such a network may be deployed outwith fixed power or networking infrastructure.
Small scale trials of such usage have been undertaken, for example ‘wireless-enabling’ field courses in geology and ecology. These past trials have been aimed towards:
- supporting disabled students, with the student in question based in a vehicle at the nearest accessible point to the study site directing a tutor via voice and video connections over a temporary point-to-point wireless link terminating in a WLAN at the study site, and
- supporting team based activities, where one group of students ‘back at base’ uses lab and archival resources to direct the activities of another group out at the study site
These modes of outdoor network access are potentially widely applicable across the HE and FE sector if the temporary network infrastructure can be made sufficiently robust and easy to deploy. JANET seeks to support and extend work to date in this area by sponsoring a further trial of this niche technology.
Portable WLAN Trial Programme 2009-2010
In December 2008, JANET(UK) invited organisations from the education sector to submit proposals to investigate the design of a portable, rugged, temporary wireless LAN system that can be deployed outdoors in support of field study courses. The full Call for Proposals document is available as a pdf file.
Project Kick-off
The Project board met to evaluate these submissions and a number of sites were selected to contribute to the programme in this area. A project kick-off meeting was held at Glasgow; each participant site contributed a slide set describing their background in the field and proposed activities within the programme. These are presented below:
| Site | Slideset |
|---|---|
University of Strathclyde jointly with Northumberland College |
Powerpoint Slides |
| Powerpoint Slides | |
| University of Lancaster | Powerpoint Slides |
| Open University | Powerpoint Slides |
| Orkney College | Powerpoint Slides |
| Leeds Metropolitan University | Powerpoint Slides |
Work is progressing: watch this space for results.
For more information on this area, please contact Mark O'Leary