Hybrid wireless-optical broadband access network(woban) : prototype development and research challenges

The hybrid wireless-optical broadband access network is emerging as a promising technology to provide economical and scalable broadband Internet access. In this cross-domain network architecture, end users receive broadband services through a wireless, mesh front end that is connected to the optical backhaul through gateway nodes. In this article, we present the architecture and functional characteristics of a WOBAN prototype built in the Networks Lab at UC Davis. We discuss research challenges for hybrid networks based on our experimental observations.