University of Colorado at Boulder WiLDNet Testbed

A wireless local area network (WLAN) was first implemented at the University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) in April of 2017. Only four 5.8 GHz band transceivers were present at the time. Now, there are eight different radios in place with the purpose of evaluating their performance. A long distance link was recently installed, as well as a medium distance link utilizing different radios. This network serves as a testbed for future installations to be made in the developing world as a part of the IEEE Smart Village program. Each radio is accompanied by a self-sustaining solar micro-grid. This micro-grid uses Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) charge controllers to ensure maximum longevity of the LiFePO4 cells that are present at each station. An Arduino and a Raspberry Pi help monitor the hardware and try to mitigate as many failures as possible without requiring human intervention. The stations are also equipped with multiple radios that are used to relay information to a central server. The testbed is currently running two LigoWave LigoDLB Propeller 5s, two LigoWave LigoDLB 5-90-17 PROs, two LigoWave LigoPTP 5-23 PROs, and two MikroTik mANT 30 PA paired with MikroTik BaseBox 5s. The central server is located on the Engineering Tower at CU Boulder, behaving as a central node that can collect data and monitor all parts of the network. This data includes the energy production of the renewable energy sources (RESs), the consumption of the energy storage systems (ESSs), and the consumption of the loads attached to these. The server is consistently analyzing this data and has the ability to raise alerts when a station behaves erroneously. Additionally, continuous ping and network throughput tests are run, in order to compare the behavior of different radios at different distances. The availability of this data allows for close analysis regarding the suitability of certain components and communication methods in remote areas of the world.