|
ABSTRACT The deployment of wireless data networks in Africa has been on a gradual increase in recent times. It is perceived as a viable means of reaching the masses where availability of communication infrastructure is either lacking or woefully inadequate in terms of performance and available throughput. The cost of deploying such networks has unfortunately been its own enemy, discouraging rapid expansion, and limiting scope to a few capable enterprises. SAVA SERIES, a unique integrated system, designed and manufactured
by IDN, a leading Internet Service Provider in Accra, Ghana, implements
a DSS 802.11b compliant broadband wireless solution, together with host
of internet applications that drastically reduce deployment costs for
a businesses internet infrastructure. The SAVA SERIES is designed specifically
with the goal of providing a "total connectivity solution in a
single box". It also represents the beginning of a quest for "zero
connectivity downtime".
The SAVA SERIES platform provides great performance and more functionality than most, if not all such devices on the market today. The IDN SAVA SERIES becomes the solution to many small businesses internet/communication
"nightmare". The robust wireless broadband equipment was critically
designed by Intercom Data Networks to serve the data communication needs
of small businesses, corporate organizations and individual users who
depend heavily on the internet. However, this solution can also be used
to address rural communication and telephony needs.
Using Broadband Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum technology (DSS11), the SAVA SERIES provides seamless wireless connectivity for both internet/intranet applications.
· 2.4GHz unlicensed frequency band
Operating in this mode, SAVA provides point to point links over a minimum distance of 5km with 24dBi antenna. The range can be extended with the use of higher gain antennas and bi-directional amplifiers. This mode is suitable for use in inter-branch office links, business to business networks and high speed WAN backbones.
Shown above are two branch offices with their LANs connected by a point to point SAVA link.
In managed mode, SAVA provides point to multipoint links between a
central base station (access point) and various customer premise stations
(satellite stations). This mode is well suited for providing network
access for a various locations within the radius of a given geographical
cell in a star network configuration. The base stations may be linked
to the internet back bone by high speed wired or wireless SAVA point
to point links. 
As shown above, four satellite stations are connected to the base station by SAVA. · INTERNAL WIRELESS LAN SAVA can be deployed as an access gateway for an internal office wireless
LAN. This is especially desirable where cable trunking would be either
difficult or undesirable. Targeted towards the Small office Home Office
(SOHO) environment, SAVA could provide substantial cost savings by eliminating
the need for expensive trunking and switches. A modem attached to the
SAVA serial interface provides dial up internet access where needed.
SAVA provides NAT and proxy functions for internet connection sharing
for all the wireless LAN clients.
ADVANTAGES OF SAVA · LOW COST One of the most significant advantages of SAVA is really its price. In general broadband solutions are expensive. SAVA was designed with price sensitivity in mind without sacrificing performance. On the average, SAVA costs about one third of existing broadband equipment costs. · WEB MAIL FEATURE An added advantage of the SAVA series is an integrated, customizable mail server with a web front-end interface for easy access to mails, from anywhere. This provides very fast access to mails for users with accounts on the system, accessing it locally and also provides international bandwidth savings for local users.· NO NEED FOR DEDICATED INTERNET SERVERS Most enterprise setups for internet access will include one or two internet servers running services like DNS for name resolution and proxy for internet sharing. The costs of these servers including their administrative costs are reduced in deploying SAVA. SAVA includes DNS service (active by default), and a proxy service. The proxy is activated for a small fee. · DIAL UP BACKUP FEATURE Very few, if any, of the available broadband systems incorporate a dial up plan. In an attempt to reduce down times, a serial interface for the attachment of an external modem has been included in SAVA to provide a dial up backup feature in the event that the radio link fails. This is to ensure smooth operations of connected systems and reduce connectivity down times · CACHING SERVICE To improve the overall user experience, when browsing the internet, SAVA includes a robust and well tested CACHING system, a feature not found in broadband equipments. This helps reduce internet page access times for frequently visited sites. The feature is available at a small fee. · ROUTING SERVICE SAVA implements a very solid routing system. It includes a complete routing mechanism both for static routing, dynamic routing (RIP, OSPF, BGP) and more complex routing techniques like Policy routing, IP multicasting, traffic shaping (bit bucket approach etc). SAVA also supports IPV6. · FIREWALL SECURITY SAVA includes a very flexible and customizable security firewall. This
includes a packet filtering mechanism and a denial of service (dos)
detection mechanism. The firewall can be customized for the customer's
environment. It is inactive by default. |
