DAKNET
that a uplink, a cybercafé or post office
I. INTRODUCTION
Now a day it is very easy to establish
communication from one part of the world to
other. Despite this even now in remote areas
villagers travel to talk to family members or
to get forms which citizens in-developed
countries an call up on a computer in a matter
of seconds. The government tries to give
telephone connection in very village in the
mistaken belief that ordinary telephone is the
cheapest way to provide connectivity. But the
recent advancements in wireless technology
make running a copper wire to an analog
telephone much more expensive than the
broadband wireless Internet connectivity.
DakNet is an internet service based on the
technology from First Mile Solutions (FMS),
which was spun-off from an idea, known as
“DonkeyNet”. This idea was featured in the
MIT Entrepreneurship Competition in 2002.
DakNet offers affordable, asynchronous
internet access to rural areas. FMS is based in
Cambridge, MA and offers its Wi-Fi based
technology to the rural population in
developing countries such as India and
Cambodia. It uses a store and forward
technique through Wi-Fi, which the company
describes as "Cached Wi-Fi Intelligence".
Daknet, an ad hoc network uses wireless
technology to provide digital connectivity.
Daknet takes advantages of the existing
transportation and communication
infrastructure to provide digital connectivity.
Daknet whose name derives from the Hindi
word “Dak” for postal combines a physical
means of transportation with wireless data
transfer to extend the internet connectivity
provides.
II. WHY DAKNET?
Real time communications need large capital
investment and hence high level of user
adoption to receiver costs. The average villager
cannot even afford a personnel communications
device such as a telephone or computer. To
recover cost, users must share the
communication infrastructure. Real time aspect
of telephony can also be a disadvantage. Studies
show that the current market for successful rural
Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) services does not appear to rely on real-
time connectivity, but rather on affordability
and basic interactivity. The poor not only need
digital services, but they are willing and able to
pay for them to offset the much higher costs of
poor transportation, unfair pricing, and
corruption.
It is useful to consider non real-time
infrastructures and applications such as voice
mail, e-mail, and electronic bulletin boards.
Technologies like store and forward or
asynchronous modes of communication can be
significantly lower in cost and do not
necessarily sacrifice the functionality required
to deliver valuable user services. In addition to
non-real-time applications such as e-mail and
voice messaging, providers can use
asynchronous modes of communication to
create local information repositories that
community members can add to and query.
 III. AD-HOC NETWORK
An ad-hoc wireless network is a collection of
wireless mobile hosts forming a temporary
network without the aid of any established
infrastructure or centralized control.
Ad-hoc networks require a peer-to-peer
architecture, and the topology of the network
depends on the location of the different users,
which changes over time.
In addition, since the propagation range of a
given mobile is limited, the mobile may need to
enlist the aid of other mobiles in forwarding a
packet to its final destination.
Thus, the end-to-end connection between any
two mobile hosts may consist of multiple
wireless hops. It is a significant technical
challenge to provide reliable high-speed end-to-
end communications in ad-hoc wireless
networks given their dynamic network
topology, decentralized control and multihop
connections.
Figure 1 shows the representation of ad hoc
network.
Figure 1. Ad hoc network
In the ad-hoc network, computers are brought
together to form a network "on the fly." As
shown in Figure, there is no structure to the
network; there are no fixed points; and usually
every node is able to communicate with every
other node.
An algorithm in ad-hoc network architectures
uses a broadcast and flooding method to all
other nodes to establish who's who. Current
research in ad-hoc wireless network design is
focused on distributed routing.
Other protocols that address some of the
difficulties in supporting multimedia
applications over ad-hoc wireless networks
include rate-adaptive compression, power
control, and resource allocation through radio
clustering.
IV. ARCHITECTURE
There are three main components of Daknet.
They are:
i. Mobile Access Point
ii. Hub
iii. Kiosk
.
1. Mobile Access Point
Daknet offers data to be transmitted over short
point-to-point links. It combines physical and
wireless data transport to enable high-
bandwidth intranet and internet connectivity
among kiosks (public computers) and between
kiosks and hubs (places with reliable Internet
connection).
Data is transported by means of a mobile
access point, which automatically and
wirelessly collects and delivers data from/to
each kiosk on the network.
Low cost WIFI radio transceivers
automatically transfer the data stored in the
MAP at high bandwidth for each point- to- point
connection.
2. Hub
It is a common connection point for devices in
a network. It is used to connect segments of a
LAN. It contains multiple ports. Packet at one
port copied to all other ports-all segments see all
packets. When the vehicle passes near an
internet access point –the hub- it synchronizes
all the data from different kiosks using the
internet.
3. Kiosk
It is a booth providing a computer related
service such as ATM. In each village there is
kiosk. It requires a user interface that can be
used without training. It enables user to enter
and display information on the same device.
Either directional or omni directional antennas
are located at each of the kiosks or hubs.
Amplifiers are used to boost the signal and range
for higher.
Figure 2. Architecture of Daknet
The above figure 2 illustrates the Daknet
concept that has been applied in real time.
Instead of relaying information over long
distances which would be expensive and
consume more power, Daknet makes use of
short point -to-point links to transmit data
between the Kiosks in each village and portable
storage devices call Mobile Access Points
(MAP). Mounted on and powered by a bus, a
motorcycle, or even a bicycle with a small
generator, a MAP physically transports data
among public kiosks and private
communications devices (as an intranet) and
between kiosks and a hub (for nonreal- time
Internet access). Low-cost WiFi radio
transceivers automatically transfer the data
stored in the MAP at high bandwidth for each
point-to-point connection.
1. As the MAP-equipped vehicle comes
within range of a village WiFi- enabled
kiosk, it automatically senses the
wireless connection and then uploads
and downloads tens of megabytes of
data.
2. When a MAP-equipped vehicle comes
within range of an Internet access point
(the hub), it automatically synchronizes
the data from all the rural kiosks, using
the Internet
These steps are repeated each time a MAP
equipped vehicle passes through the village
which enables low cost wireless network
and seamless connectivity. Even a single
vehicle passing by a village once per day is
sufficient to provide daily information
services and the connection quality is also
high. Daknet also incorporates means for
seamless scalability in future when the
village's ecconomy grows and people can
afford to spend more and they will also be
able to obtain real time communication
services.
Even local entrepreneurs currently are
using DakNet connections to make e-
services like e-mail and voice mail available
to residents in rural villages. Daknet concept
has helped many more initiatives in India
like the Bhoomi initiative. Bhoomi, an
initiative to computerize land records.
Daknet helps on this a lot. A detailed article
on Daknet and other initiatives which has
enabled digital connectivity in remote areas
through wireless networks is available here.
V. HOW IT WORKS?
A simple store-and-forward WiFi system,
using a government bus as a central linkage. The
bus contains a simple WiFi installation and
server, and when in range of one of the outlying
information kiosks it synchronizes data for later
processing.
DakNet offers a cost-effective network for
data connectivity in regions lacking
communications infrastructure. Instead of trying
to relay data over long distances, which can be
expensive, Daknet transmits data over short
point-to point links between kiosks and portable
storage devices called Mobile Access Points
(MAP). Mounted and powered on a bus or
motorcycle with a small generator MAP
physically transports data between public kiosks
and private communications devices and
between kiosks and a hub (for non real time
internet access). Low cost Wi-Fi radio
transceivers transfer data stored in MAP at high
bandwidth for each point-to-point connection.
Daknet has two functions:-
 As the MAP equipped vehicle comes
within the range of a village Wi-Fi
enabled kiosk it automatically senses the
wireless connection and uploads and
downloads tens of mega bytes of data.
 As it comes in the range of Internet
access points (the hub) it automatically
synchronizes the data from kiosks using
the Internet.
These steps repeat or all the vehicles carrying
MAP, thus providing a low cost wireless
network and seamless communication
infrastructure. Even a single vehicle passing by
a village is sufficient to carry the entire daily
information. The connection quality is also high.
Thus asynchronous broadband connectivity
offers a stepping-stone to always on broadband
infrastructure and end user applications. Daknet
makes it possible for individual households and
private users to get connected.
VII. FEATURES OF DAKNET
Since it avoids using phone lines or expensive
equipment, Daknet provides one of the lowest-
cost accessibility solutions in the world.In
addition to low cost the other feature of Daknet
is its ability for upgrading the always-on
broadband connectivity.
As the village increases its economic means
the villagers can use the same hardware,
software and user interface to enjoy real-time
information access.
The only change is the addition of fixed
location wireless antennas and towers, a change
that is entirely transparent to end users, because
they need not learn new skills or buy new
hardware and software.
With multiple MAP buses, a low cost wireless
network and seamless communication
infrastructure gets created.
VII. FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
Daknet provide seamless method of upgrading
to always on broadband connectivity. As a
village increases its economic means, its
inhabitants can use the same hardware,
software, and user interface to enjoy real time
information access. The only change is the
addition of fixes location wireless antennas and
towers.
If the mobile access points are replaced with
fixed transceivers real-time connectivity is
possible. Thus more sophisticated services, such
as voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is enabled
which allows normal real time telephony.
Instead of using wifi, wi-max or e-video can be
used. Wifi can affected by interference from
mobile phones and Bluetooth devices which will
reduce the transmission speeds.
IX. CONCLUSION
. Daknet’s low deployment cost and
enthusiastic reception by rural users has
motivated dozens of inquiries for further
deployments. This provides millions of
people their first possibility for digital
connectivity. Increasing connectivity is the
most reliable way to encourage economic
growth.
The larger goal is to shift the policy focus of
the Government’s universal service
obligation funds from wireless village
telephones to wireless ad-hoc networking.
The shift will probable require formal
assessment for user satisfaction, resulting
economic growth and system reliability..

IX. REFERENCES

IEEE Computer, January 2004

Electronics For You, April 2004
www.daknet.net
www.medialabasia.org
www.firstmilesolutions.com