Federal grant supports next stage of large-area Wi-Fi project

The NSW Government-supported Connectivity Innovation Network (CIN), in partnership with regional telecommunications provider Pivotel and safety equipment supplier Roobuck, has been awarded a grant of $1.5 million under the Telecommunications Disaster Resilience Innovation (TDRI) program to support the next phase of a pilot large-area Wi-Fi project.

Understood to be a world first and previously funded by CIN in November 2022, the innovative project is the result of multidisciplinary collaboration between industry and academia to answer the challenge of ubiquitous connectivity through Wi-Fi over a very large area. It seeks to deliver rapidly deployable voice and data services with increased Wi-Fi coverage, including novel Wi-Fi protocol and antenna designs, with resilient satellite backhaul.

Large-area Wi-Fi will connect operational sites, or entire communities, when unforeseen events render traditional communication services unavailable by delivering coverage to an area of up to 2 km² and catering for up to 100 simultaneous users at speeds of up to 10 Mbps per user. The service is equally suited to underserved communities in regional, rural and remote areas where the challenges of having no or poor connectivity to support digital services are well known.

The solution utilises Pivotel’s satellite backhaul services, including LEO sat constellations OneWeb and Starlink, as well as NBN Co’s Sky Muster, with the possibility of LTE network integration. An SD-WAN solution supports network bonding and multipath transport protocol for essential data transmission. An innovative Wi-Fi protocol designed by The University of Sydney (USYD) addresses the hidden node problem and enhances long-range high data rates, while the high-gain and wide-beam antenna designed by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) enables high performance over a large area.

“This grant is recognition of Pivotel’s long-held ambition to deliver solutions that address the connectivity challenges faced by regional and remote Australians and make a difference to their lives,” said Peter Bolger, CEO of Pivotel.

“For more than 20 years, we have worked tirelessly with our partners to develop innovative communication solutions and the TDRI program allows us to continue delivering critical services that benefit Australian communities. We are proud that this project will allow people and organisations to stay safe and connected during the most challenging moments.”

UTS Distinguished Professor Jay Guo, who serves as CIN’s Technical Director, added, “The large-area Wi-Fi project leverages CIN’s world-leading capabilities in the connectivity space — wireless communications and antennas in particular. The earlier success of the previous CIN-funded pilot project serves as a great exemplar of how Australian universities, industry and governments can work together to tackle our national challenges and meet the needs of our communities. We are confident that the TDRI grant will propel the technology to the next level, to deliver meaningful societal impact.”

Image caption: Associate Professor Peiyuan Qin (UTS), Tian Qiu (USYD), Dr Tianyi Zhang (USYD) and Zhaoqi Cui (UTS).