New open source routing software for large wireless networks



-/8 Dec, 2004 - Wi-Fi Technology News/-Wireless Leiden, The Netherlands, has successfully developed new software for the reliable operation of large, wireless networks. These networks should adjust rapidly and automatically to changes in the network such as new or disappearing interlinks. Many research organizations are developing this so called 'dynamic routing' that could enhance the reliability and scalibility of these networks enormously.

?Initially we tried the software that is being used on the Internet for variable, but fixed networks?, says Lodewijk V?ge, Wireless Leiden project leader. ?But a wireless network like ours has a different topology with a lot of interconnections. Above say a hundred interlinks the situation became unstable and the network appeared to break up into two separate parts. I then decided to start more or less from scratch.?

The computers at the network nodes assess the availability of their interlinks and communicate this information to the other nodes. That is the basic principle of any dynamic routing system. The difference is in the type of information that is being exchanged and the way the nodes reach consensus on the optimum routing paths. ?Our version is fast, simple and ..... it appears to work!? says V?ge.

Like all the technology that is being developed by Wireless Leiden, the software is available under an Open Source license and can be downloaded from the Internet: http://wleiden.webweaving.org:8080/svn/node-config/other/lvrouted
Detailed technical information can also be found at this location.

About the Wireless Leiden Foundation (http://www.wirelessleiden.nl/english/)
The Wireless Leiden Foundation has build one of the largest, non-profit wireless networks in the world, covering the City of Leyden, The Netherlands and the region, on a cooperative basis.