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Technology Research for Developing Regions

This research focuses on the use of technology (ICT) in developing regions, with a focus on wireless connectivity as a viable rural infrastructure. The project aims to address issues such as rural network coverage, long-distance low-cost links, intermittent connectivity, literacy and UI issues, interactive education, non-English speech recognition, shared devices and infrastructure, power issues, low-power networking/computing, and low-cost quality power.

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Technology Research for Developing Regions

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  1. Technology Researchfor Developing Regions Prof. Eric A. Brewer UC Berkeley Annenberg WorkshopOctober 7, 2005

  2. Claims: • Technology (“ICT”) can make a difference … but industrialized nation tech is a bad fit … and thus a need for research. • ICT is not for web access (per se) … but for health, education, government, commerce – the real problems • Wireless connectivity is the first viable rural infrastructure… and might lead to others.

  3. TIER: Technology and Infrastructure for Developing Regions • NSF 5-year grant • Intel, Microsoft, Infineon, Vodaphone • Grameen Bank, UNDP, Markle • Working with social scientists at Berkeley • Co-design, co-deploy with NGOs • Small deployments every 6 months • Must establish trust, relationships! • Mostly in India • Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Ghana, Bangladesh, Rwanda, and Mexico

  4. Early Research Agenda • Rural network coverage • Long-distance low-cost links • Intermittent connectivity • Literacy and UI issues • Interactive and semi-interactive education • Non-English speech recognition • Shared devices and infrastructure • Power issues • Low-power networking/computing • Low-cost *quality* power

  5. Outline • Long-distance “WiFi” • Telemedicine in India • Wireless backbone network in Ghana • Intermittent Networking • Better e-mail in Cambodia • Some policy thoughts

  6. Ambasamudram Eye Center • Aravind Eye Hospital • Tamil Nadu, 5 hospitals • But too far for most to walk • Goals: • 110 rural health centers • Telemedicine • Computer-assisted diagnosis • Already sustainable! • … at 65 patients/day

  7. Theni Hospital Bodi House Complex Andipatti Chimney 10.2 Kms Ambasamudram 33.3 Kms Kambam

  8. Long-distance wireless • Goal: low cost 50+ km links ($400?) • Exploit $5 802.11 chipsets • … but need new network software • Low power as well (e.g. solar) • Longer term: • Low-cost antenna arrays, VoIP • WiMAX: good potential, but expensive • CDMA450: • Good target for rural data • Lower data rates, but might be good start • 1Mb/110kb at 50km in Romania

  9. Goal Best so far.. Aravind link

  10. Some Issues • Line of sight • towers expensive… working on low-cost towers • Topology knowledge important • Type of vegetation, 50-60 ft in Pondicherry • Antenna alignment is hard • Power problems • frequent power failure, solar power voltage variations

  11. Intermittent Networking • Developing-region networks rarely connect end-to-end • Power, weather, reliability issues • Sometimesintentionally intermittent: • Low-earth orbit satellites: connect only while they are overhead • “Mules” – moving basestation collects data (e.g bus, motorcycle) But clearly fine for e-mail and voice mail.. • Extended coverage: • User may periodically enter the coverage area (e.g. market/school) • Internet doesn’t really handle this well… • “Delay-tolerant Networking” Research Group (dtnrg.org) • Led by Kevin Fall of Intel Research Berkeley

  12. Locations March 20-21 February 18 March 10-14 March 3 CIC Feb 19-22 CIC CIC CIC CIC CIC CIC CIC CIC CIC CIC CIC CIC Large Centers 10 computers, 64k access, Staff of 4 CIC CIC CIC CIC Medium Centers 6 computers, 64k access (3 centers), Dial-up access (6 centers), Staff of 4 CIC CIC CIC CIC Small Centers 3 computers, Dial-up access, Staff of 4 CIC CIC CIC CIC

  13. Policy Issue 1 of 4Cellular Telephony is not Enough • Cellular success is largely URBAN • Fundamental problem for rural areas: • Low user density => high cost/user • Grameen Telecom is NOT an exception • Bangladesh has high population density • Basestations deployed for middle class • No rural basestations – only collateral coverage • Can “decree” deployment • E.g. China • But does not imply that rural markets are viable otherwise

  14. Policy Issue 2 of 4Connectivity without Mobility • Best rural solutions are NOT mobile • Improves: • Range (using antennas and lower frequencies) • Bandwidth (particularly for the uplink) • Power (bigger antennas mean less power) • Robustness (via mesh networking) • Mobile cellular and non-mobile data networks should co-exist • Use higher frequencies for mobility

  15. Kallarakkunnu Chekkod 6 Arikkod 3.04 km 2 Kakkancherry Kizzisary 8.5 km 3.5 Km 12 7.75km Malappuram 22 5 Melmuri 4.5 km 17.5 km 8 5 Vivekananda 3.48 km Nilambur 20 8 5 3 3.5km 16.8 km 11.5km 25 Vettekkod 22.3 km 8 4 Vangalam 17 15.68 km 10 14.53 km Pullamkode Kalpakanchery 5 MEA 6 23 3 Pallurkotta 22.5 km PTM Tavanoor 7 23 24 30 10 6 4 No of Akshaya centres connected xx 24 Sub POP POP Bharti

  16. Policy Issue 3 of 4Unlicense Now, License Later • (pure) Auctions don’t make sense for rural • In practice, winners buy the urban markets and ignore the rural markets • Could require “use it or lose” in rural areas • Could require coverage (indirect subsidy) • Unlicensed spectrum allows expermentation • Explore all the options in parallel • Focus on 2.4GHz for unlicensed, due to low cost • Need to fight obstacles from monopoly phone companies • Could license later though (but perhaps not) • Long-term quality of service might require control of spectrum • … but wait until the solutions are really viable

  17. Policy Issue 4 of 4Explore Wireless instead of Fiber • Fiber is the right long-term solution for backbone • … once there sufficient traffic • Source of wasted money worldwide… • Wireless point-to-point links can be better: • Much lower cost, about 10x for 50km. • Much less bandwidth, but still enough! • Can deploy in a more ad hoc fashion • Convert saturated links to fiber over time • … conversion pays for itself!

  18. 90.7 Kms Kumasi National University for Science andTechnology Mpreaso Hill Koforidua Hill University of Ghana GBC Tower Weija Hill

  19. The “Space Program” Problem • 3-5 year technology projects rarely make sense • UNLESS – technology decisions are late in the process • Many examples of obsolete technology use due to delay between idea and implementation • (True for US Government IT work as well) • Pace of technological change => need a different process

  20. For more details…. • “The Case for Technology for Developing Regions”– E. Brewer et al. • IEEE Computer, June 2005 • “Technology Insights for Rural Connectivity” • Written for this conference • http://tier.cs.berkeley.edu

  21. Backup

  22. Tier and DTN • DTN: routing and storage for messages • DTN Pros: • Cost: better use of resources, more tolerant of problems • Reliability: delay hides transient problems • Ease of deployment: can be more ad hoc, less coordination than a synchronous system • Coverage: Intermittent coverage >> full time coverage • Con: Not really interactive, or only interactive in some areas • TierStore: Storage infrastructure on top of DTN • Supports e-mail, v-mail, web proxy, data collection apps, broadcast • Claim: Very low cost per user

  23. Slotted WiFi MAC • Move to TDMA with coarse slots • Rate-based flow control (due to high RTT) • Exponential backoff is bad for voice • Move to bulk acks (like SACK) • Turn off automatic acks • Normal timeouts too short • Support multiple antennas per pole • “burst synchronization” • Turn off carrier sense

  24. Literacy • Idea: make better use of speech recognition • Novel speech recognition: • Easy to train, speaker independent • Any language or dialect, but small vocabulary (order 100 words) • A non-IT person can train the speech for her dialect • Early results: • 40 samples in Tamil, most collected in India • 98% recognition accuracy on digits, simple commands • Application trials this summer (with Mitsubishi Research) • Have 2mm .13 micron chip design, 19mA active • 10000x less than Pentium, 100x less than StrongARM

  25. Tsunami Disaster • About 10,000 dead in India, 6000 in Tamil Nadu • Small ICT victories: • Veerampattinam: loudspeakers used to clear the beach after first wave • Only 1 life lost (of 6300) • Nallavadu: former kiosk worker called from Singapore and warned the village => no lives lost (of 3600) • Nagapattinam: HAM radio set up to announce relief info, missing persons

  26. Disaster Relief Applications • Real problem is notification, not detection • How to reach thousands of villages? • Broadcast based on WiFi, SMS seems possible • Need fast-deploy cellular infrastructure • CDMA450 + VOIP + WiFi backhaul (+ generator) • We could probably build this… • Need information sharing • Could build this on DTN/TierStore • E.g. too many clothes around Madras, needed more rice, shoes • Also, could match missing persons/families • Enable visitors/residents to contact foreign relatives

  27. Many experiments in progress… • GrameenPhone, Bangladesh • Akshaya, e-gov in Kerala, India • ITC Kiosks for farmers (5000 kiosks) • Telecenters, ICT training in Brazil • We hope to: • Enable more of these • Reduce the costs, increase the quality

  28. Akshaya Project • Kerala E-gov project • Provide e-gov kiosk for every 1000 households • Deployed in one district so far (Mallapuram) • Largest wireless network in the world? (400 sites) • Partially subsidized: • Subsidized training in “e-literacy” One person per household • Entreprenuers must make it go after that • Looks sustainable, but too early to tell • Working with the technical contractor to study and improve the technology

  29. Other Health Examples • Dengue Fever (virus) • Affects 110M people, mostly in latin america • … some cases in US, many in southeast Asia • Dr. Boser has a detector, based on drop of blood • Need to build a map of spread • GPS, timestamps, GIS Plot • Air and water quality

  30. Data Centers • Best place to store persistent data • (device is second best) • Can justify backup power, networking, physical security • Cheapest source of storage/computer per user • 100-1000x less than a personal device (!) • Factors: shared resources, admin cost, raw costs (power, disks, CPUs) • Berkeley will be the data center for our early work… • Proxies: shared local computation and caching • Linux PC or Xscale box

  31. Devices • Co-Design Devices/Infrastructure • => 20-40x lower cost • Enables more functionality • Storage, processing, human analysis • Longer battery life • Novel low-cost OLED-based flexible displays • 10-50x cheaper, more robust • Printed using an inkjet process • Develop standard integrated chips => $1-7 per device • Looking at 1mW per device (including radio!) • Using FPGA prototyping engine • Packaging?

  32. Technical Results • Proxy cache deployment • collecting usage logs • Speech Collection • ~20 samples • usability issues • lost in translation • need instructions in tamil

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