We have built our network using the Motorola Canopy system. This system is a family of broadband wireless products that provide high-speed Internet access for residential and business customers. As shown in Figure 1, the Canopy system has five basic building blocks:

• The Access Point (AP) Cluster
• Subscriber Module (SM)
• Backhaul (BH) Module
• Cluster Management Module (CMM)
• Surge Suppressor

Figure 1 . The Motorola Canopy System

This system uses the unlicensed UNII bands (5.25 – 5.35 GHz and 5.725 – 5.825 GHz) and all radios are approved by the United States Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Part 15, Class B, and RSS-210 of Industry Canada (IC). The AP, SM, BH and Surge Suppressors are all UL approved.

Components

The following sections highlight each of the Canopy components.

Access Point (AP) Cluster

The AP Cluster is a base station that can incorporate between one and six AP Modules and up to two Backhaul Modules (BH). Each module operates with a 60-degree directional antenna to provide coverage to one sector.

One of the unique capabilities of the Canopy system is its ability to synchronize the transmission timing of the AP Modules in all of the AP Clusters. The GPS receiver in the CMM is the key to delivering this system level synchronization. The synchronization of the AP transmission along with the specially designed Canopy Time Division Duplex (TDD) air interface ensures that all AP Modules transmit at the same time while all Subscriber Modules (SM) are in a listen mode. This synchronization also ensures that when the SMs are transmitting, all the AP Modules are listening. This synchronization, enabled by the Cluster Management Module (CMM), ensures that the Canopy system does not interfere with itself, since the AP Modules do not interfere with each other and the SMs do not interfere with each other. This unique characteristic delivers an ability to scale the network where Canopy AP Clusters can be added to the network to improve system coverage or capacity without increasing the system interference.

Subscriber Module (SM)

The SM is the subscriber termination unit or the Customer Premise Equipment (CPE). It consists of a single module that operates with an integrated 60-degree antenna. Each SM can communicate to a single AP Module at any given time. SM synchronization and control is accomplished via the received AP signal. SMs are typically located outdoor and Line of Sight (LOS) from the APs. Once the SM is initialized, it scans the Radio Frequency (RF) channels and automatically registers with the appropriate AP. Each SM requires a Category 5 cable for its Ethernet connection to the premise IP equipment with DC power supplied to the SM through that same cable. The SM uses a 110 VAC power supply (ACPS110-01 or -02) or the 90V-230V switching power supply (ACPSSW-01) and associated RJ45 connector to power the SM. The Universal Mounting Bracket (SMMB1) is available for mounting the SM to the customer site. One SMMB1 is required for each SM. It is recommended to use a Canopy Ethernet Surge Protector (300SS) mounted at the Ethernet entry point on the outside wall of the premise.

Canopy Configurations

We use the Motorola Canopy Wireless Internet Platform to address two baseline configurations – Point-to-Point and Point-to-Multipoint. The following sections detail these baseline configurations.

Point-to-Point System

The Canopy Wireless Internet Platform can be configured to form a Point-to-Point network connection that can be used in wireless backhaul, bridging and other data applications. The Point–to-Point configuration, as shown in Figure 3, can span distances up to 35 miles using the Reflector Kit. The Reflector Kit also can significantly reduce external interference issues. Distances of greater than 35 miles can be achieved by daisy chaining the units. The Point-to-Point system operates at 5.7 GHz with a raw data rata rate of 10 Mbps and measurable data throughput rates of 7+ Mbps. Motorola also offers a 5.2 GHz Point-to-Point system which has a range of two miles without the reflector kits. The reflector kits used with the 5.7 GHz Point-to-Point solution cannot be used with the 5.2 GHz Point-to-Point solution due to FCC EiRP limits in the 5.2 GHz band.

Figure 2 . A Canopy System in a Point-to-Point Configuration

Point-to-Multipoint System

The Canopy Point-to-Multipoint configuration is available in either the 5.2 GHz or the 5.7 GHz frequency bands. Either the 5.7 GHz or the 5.2 GHz system provide a Line of Site (LOS) range of approximately two miles (5.2 GHz) or ten miles (5.7 GHz with reflector) between the AP Module and SM using their internal Canopy antennas. The 5.7 Point-to-Multipoint configurations can support a 5.7 SM with the reflector kit (27RD). The reflector kit increases the transmit and receive gain of the SM by approximately 17 dB, thereby increasing the range between the AP Module and the SM to approximately 10 miles LOS. The Point-to-Multipoint system enables the delivery of broadband access to multiple locations from a single AP Module. The system, as shown in Figure 3, was developed to optimize its performance in high density and low-density environments in the presence of external interference sources. Therefore, a Canopy Point-to-Multipoint configuration can be deployed in both rural and metropolitan environments.

Figure 3 . A Canopy System in a Point-to-Point Configuration