Unlike any other offering on the market today, Rajant Kinetic Mesh® technology provides fully mobile wireless broadband connectivity, allowing all nodes to be in motion at any time. While this unique functionality makes it a natural fit for operations with demanding mobility requirements, it brings an array of other equally compelling technological features for any organization seeking to intelligently connect diverse assets across large-scale environments.
These environments may be highly remote and span hundreds of square miles, where existing cellular, 3G or Wi-Fi infrastructure may not yet be established. In those cases, Kinetic Mesh networks can be readily deployed using any number of Rajant BreadCrumb® wireless network nodes. Easy-to-install BreadCrumbs rapidly self-configure to route communications peer-to-peer or through any satellite, point-to-point wireless, or wired links.
In addition to remote locations, Kinetic Mesh performs in high density environments. Many traditional mesh networks become unusable once they reach a set node capacity, which can be as little as 50. However, Kinetic Mesh networks can operate in full form with as many as 600 nodes. In fact, these networks actually grow stronger as density increases, since new nodes provide additional paths for data routing.
In remote or high-density environments, network traffic is orchestrated by Rajant InstaMesh® technology. InstaMesh is a proprietary protocol that dynamically evaluates and determines the best pathways between any wired or wireless points, even when points are in motion. It can move data to faster unused frequencies or switch channels the moment it senses an interference or obstruction. This approach mitigates bottlenecks and provides robust fault tolerance, high throughput and low latency.
In the following sections, the primary functionalities of Kinetic Mesh will be explored in more detail.
Total Mobility
Traditional meshing technologies rely on a single stationery access point which acts as the root node / controller managing other radios as clients, every node in a Kinetic Mesh network can act independently and with full routing capabilities. Its underlying InstaMesh protocol allows a Kinetic Mesh network to become a true peer-to-peer network, and enables its full mobility. BreadCrumbs can be placed on fixed equipment, moving vehicles, and even devices to instantly connect them into the fluid network.
Intelligent Autonomy
A Kinetic Mesh network requires very little manual configuration or maintenance due to its self-learning and self-healing capabilities. BreadCrumbs can be spun out quickly, as they automatically find peers and begin routing instantly through best-available paths. Any-node to any-node communication capabilities ensure no single point of failure. If a node does go down the network seamlessly reroutes data in real-time.
Traditional mesh networks eat up bandwidth with overhead messages to determine best paths, but InstaMesh learns from its tracking of all BreadCrumb connections how to optimally route each packet it sees, keeping overhead traffic to a bare minimum.
Dynamic Frequency Utilization
Most multi-radio network solutions separate client access traffic and backhaul traffic onto separate channels. Alternatively, Rajant Kinetic Mesh’s BreadCrumb nodes make use of all installed radios for multiple functions at the same time, and can use any frequency to route wireless and wired connections over the best available frequency. If there is interference on any one frequency, the node will automatically switch to another band. This dynamic frequency shifting capability provides robust fault tolerance, high throughput and low latency.
Rapid Scalability
Rajant Kinetic Mesh networks are able to seamlessly scale with changes in density and distance requirements. As BreadCrumbs are added they essentially self-configure, mitigating the demand for interference. Whereas, traditional mesh networks degrade as nodes are added, Kinetic Mesh networks grow stronger with each additional node.
Extreme Ruggedness
When Kinetic Mesh networks were introduced to the market, they were primarily used in military and mining applications. As such, Rajant’s hardware was built to withstand the most punishing environments and extreme vibrations. Today, BreadCrumbs vastly outperform in durability compared to any outdoor enclosure competitive offering.
Extreme Security
From its military and defense roots, Kinetic Mesh networks also support extremely high security and all IEEE standards. BreadCrumbs support NSA Suite B cryptography algorithms for data and encryption and provide per-hop, per- packet authentication for multi-layer security.
High-Performance Applications
Customer applications are dictating the type of network they need, and many of these have become both mobile and bandwidth-intensive. Kinetic Mesh network nodes can communicate with any Wi-Fi or Ethernet-connected device to deliver low-latency, high-throughput data, voice, and video applications for remote monitoring, tracking, surveillance, and virtually any other number of operational applications.
This combination of technical functionality infuses Kinetic Mesh with the adaptability, flexibility, intelligence, and mobility that make it more than just a tool for connectivity. It becomes a value-add asset to improve operational effectiveness, enhance quality of service, drive productivity, and generate increased ROI.
A Closer Look at InstaMesh’s Routing Technology
Relying on a proprietary data routing algorithm, InstaMesh enables continuous and instantaneous routing of wireless and wired connections across the Kinetic Mesh network.
It does so by constantly discovering and maintaining information at each BreadCrumb node to determine the best path and frequency on which to send each packet. When a user changes, moves, or disables a device in the network, that change only needs to be managed locally, not propagated throughout the network.
This enables operators to make significant productivity gains and maintain high network availability with minimal maintenance and administration, as InstaMesh auto-adapts to new configurations, devices in motion, and changing environmental conditions to ensure uninterrupted communications.
A Closer Look at Network Nodes
BreadCrumb nodes work in concert with InstaMesh to enable voice, video and data communications that operate over a common wireless infrastructure. Hundreds can be quickly linked as part of a fully mobile, high bandwidth network.
Multiple radio configurations support comprehensive applications and deployment environments, including 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 4.9 GHz, 5 GHz and others. These nodes can securely support IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n standards for compatibility with millions of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) client devices such as laptops, smartphones, IP cameras, sensors, VoIP phones and other IP devices.
Considered the most ruggedized mesh networking hardware on the market, BreadCrumbs have been proven to operate reliability across challenging terrain and the most extreme conditions.
Part two of a three-part series. Click here for part one and part three.