Future Now
The IFTF Blog
Pervasive & Context-Aware Computing
"Today I'm blogging live from a meeting of Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network, which is a non-profit organization that for a few years now has been a sounding board and source of research on critical issues affecting the future of Silicon Valley.
Surprisingly, it's taken until this year for Silicon Valley's local government and business leaders to recognize the opportunity provided by lightweight, unlicensed wireless infrastructure technologies like Wi-Fi to create new platforms for social and economic development. Muniwireless.com has been tracking the thousands of communities that have been considering building out public, unlicensed wireless networks based on Wi-Fi. However, only one has made it to full operational
There are other problems with Wi-Fi as a municipal infrastructure, such as its scalability and ability to support dense concentrations of users. For instance, there's about 50 people with laptops here trying to get on the single Wi-Fi access point, and the network has completely collapsed.
Interesting application:
- Downtown San Jose wants to use Wi-Fi to rapidly deploy portable, networked Parking Guidance Signs during special events like the San Jose Grand Prix, and parking meters that accept credit cards. This would eliminate the need to draw fiber or copper wire to each unit (currently economically unfeasible for either use)
More on the project can be found at the Wireless Silicon Valley site.