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  • Step 1: pre-configuration. It is necessary to establish a radio link between the wireless devices, assign IP addresses to network interfaces and to globally disable switching. The routing tables of the devices after the pre-configuration is shown in Table 1.
  • Step 2: role distribution. The ODR protocol uses two role types that must be configured on each device according to the case: hub - central device and spoke - end devices. Usually, the base station sector, which has a connection to the backhaul network, acts as the central device and the subscriber stations having the user devices connected, act as end devices.
  • Step 3: default routes are added on the spoke devices. The devices having the hub role send messages to inform all the devices about their role. To send such messages, the service fields of the MINT protocol are used (see InfiLINK 2x2 and InfiMAN 2x2: Switching), so all the recipients are situated in the MINT area. When receiving such a message, the devices having the spoke role create a list of hubs. Since in a star topology a device with a hub role has a connection to the backhaul, the device with a spoke role can add a default route to its routing table by specifying the hub's address as the gateway (Table 2). One MINT area can have several devices having the hub role, therefore each spoke can have several default routes in the RIB.
  • Step 4: default route selection. The MINT protocol is used to distribute information about the devices having the hub role. MINT uses an internal metric that reflects the radio parameters of the links and their current load, so the criteria for choosing a default route and adding it to FIB is the smallest metric value. The metric analysis is performed permanently for each device having the hub role, therefore, if the metric of the used route grows, it can be replaced by another one with a lower metric. Thus, the fault tolerance and load balancing functions are implemented.
  • Step 5: routing information distribution. Each device with the spoke role generates service messages for each device having the hub role. These messages contain information about the directly connected and about the static routes in the device's FIB. Note that information about the networks common with the hub is not included in such messages. For example, CPE3 will report network 192.168.3.0/24 to BS1, but will not report network 172.16.0.0/29, because the BS1's radio interface is associated with this network and the BS1's FIB already has information about it (Table 1).
  • Step 6: the connectivity between all LAN segments is established. The necessary routes have been added to the routing tables of the wireless devices (Table 2).
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Figure 1 - The ODR protocol's operational scheme in a star topology network


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Table 1 - The routing tables of the wireless devices after pre-configuration

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Table 2 - The routing tables of the wireless devices after the ODR configuration

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Load balancing: the default route metric in ODR is calculated based on the radio parameters and on the channel's load level. This allows to balance the traffic for the spoke devices and evenly make use of the devices and of the communication channels in the MINT area.

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Figure 2 - Redundancy scheme using the ODR protocol

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  • easy configuration: the basic ODR configuration consists of role distribution;
  • scalability: an increase in the number of devices in the network does not require a larger amount of work, as it is enough to perform preliminary configuration on the devices and define a role;
  • speed: the state of the devices and of the communication channels is constantly monitored by the ODR protocol, so changes in the network topology will instantly be reflected in the routing table;
  • fault tolerance and traffic balancing: the implementation of the schemes for increasing reliability and optimal link utilization does not require additional manipulations as it is performed automatically;
  • topology limitation: ODR cannot be used in arbitrary topology networks and it is intended for star type networks only;
  • proprietary implementation: the the ODR protocol is supported by other hardware manufacturers, however these implementations will not be compatible with the InfiNet Infinet devices. This happens because the transport technology for ODR is not standardized and in the InfiNet Infinet devices the proprietary MINT protocol is used.

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  1. Network configuration via web interface for InfiLINK 2x2, InfiMAN 2x2.

  2. Network configuration via Web interface for InfiLINK Evolution, InfiMAN Evolution families devices.
  3. Ifconfig command (interfaces configuration)
  4. route command (static routes configuration)
  5. mint command (MINT version)
  6. mint command (TDMA version)