Session Date/Time: 19 Mar 2024 03:00

gaia

Summary

The Gaia session at IETF 119 featured four presentations covering diverse topics in community networking and internet access solutions. The session included discussions on resilient education infrastructure in the Philippines, community radio stations and networks in India, low-cost IoT platforms for air quality monitoring in Thailand, and spectrum management for rural internet access in New Zealand. The session emphasized technical details, deployments, challenges, and future directions of these initiatives.

Key Discussion Points

Resilient Education Infrastructure (Philippines):
- Project "RAIN" focused on providing remote learning solutions through LTE, Wi-Fi, and digital TV data casting.
- Challenges with regulatory approvals and shifting to Wi-Fi-based solutions.
- Development of on-premise content servers (local flicks) and learning management systems.
- Sustainability strategies involving school communities and local government units (LGUs).
Community Radio & Networks (India):
- Leveraging existing infrastructure of community radio stations (towers, server space) for network deployments.
- Developing a cost-effective model ("CR Bolo") for community-owned and managed networks.
- Using open-source software and local resources for network setup and maintenance.
- Focusing on providing meaningful connectivity for local communities, especially women and small enterprises.
Low Cost IoT Platform (Thailand):
- CSmon project focuses on monitoring air quality using low-cost microsensors.
- Calibration and standardization of sensors using government resources.
- Developing an IoT community model for deployment and maintenance of sensors.
- Use cases include forest fire detection and monitoring exposure of delivery drivers to air pollution.
Spectrum Management (New Zealand):
- New Zealand's managed spectrum park approach for allocating spectrum to local and regional ISPs.
- Challenges with 5G deployment in rural areas due to limitations on cell radius.
- Debate over using 4G vs 5G for rural access.
- Technical complexities of time division duplex (TDD) synchronization and interference.
- Engineering challenges in licensing and deploying networks in the 3.3-3.4 GHz band.

Decisions and Action Items

Rajeev and Flip to continue discussion regarding Moodle contributions offline.
Addison to connect with Timothy regarding community media hubs in Australia.

Next Steps

Explore collaboration opportunities among the presenters and attendees based on shared interests and challenges.
Continue discussions on the Gaia mailing list regarding best practices and future research directions.
Consider a panel discussion on LEO satellite technology at the next IETF meeting in Vancouver.