6
2.0 Background
The AvMesh
TM
Communications System is a wireless communication platform which
operates by broadcasting signals from the Avlite wireless remote controller to the lights in
the system via a 2.4GHz encrypted mesh network.
A typical network architecture (e.g. networks used to connect devices such as phones,
computers and routers) uses a ‘hub and spoke’ arrangement in which points on the
network (the spokes) are all connected to a single center device known as the hub. The
hub serves as an access point through which all devices in the network connect to one
another. This architecture is not as flexible as a mesh network.
Instead of connecting to all other devices through a single centralized point, the lights, also
known as nodes, act as centralized points and connect to all other nodes that are nearby
in the mesh network. The nodes send signals to other nodes that are within range and
the signals are passed from node to node until the final destination is reached. This allows
all the lights in the system to be controlled wirelessly, even if the final destination is out of
range of the wireless controller.
Figure 1:
Hub and Spoke architecture (left) and Mesh Network (right)
The AvMesh
TM
Communications System is self-realizing meaning that once deployed, the
airfield lights will undertake a period of network mapping, whereby the system determines
how many lights need to repeat commands and be ‘nodes’ to provide the airfield enough
coverage.
The sections in this manual cover the necessary fundamentals of Radio Frequency
(RF) Communication Systems to provide an understanding of how the AvMesh
TM
Communications System operates as well as provide troubleshooting information relating
to the AvMesh
TM
Communications System.
