60 GHz cnWave utilizes a hierarchy of different physical and logical elements to create a network topology. These network elements consists of nodes, sectors, sites, and links, and are described in further detail below.
Node
A node is a general purpose compute unit that controls one or more sectors. V1000 and V3000 nodes support a single sector, while V5000 nodes support up to two sectors.
There are two different types of nodes:
DN - Distributes bandwidth to neighbouring cnWave nodes. A DN is considered a fiber PoP when the SFP+ port/10G Ethernet copper port is utilized to connect the cnWave network into a provider’s IP network.
CN - Terminates IP connectivity to a customer (similar to a modem) and wirelessly connects to a DN.
Additionally, V5000, V3000 hardware consists of two types of DNs:
Sector
A sector is a wireless baseband card attached to a node.
On V5000, each DN sector supports a total of fifteen wireless connections, comprised of up to two other DNs and up to fifteen CNs. Since V5000 has two sectors, its supports a total of 30 wireless connections to up to 4 x DNs and 30 x CNs
On V3000, each DN sector supports a single wireless connection because of narrow antenna coverage.
Each CN sector can only wirelessly connect to a single DN sector.
Site
A site is a logical element referring to the physical location at which one or more nodes are installed. A site is considered a fiber PoP when the Primary-DN at the site is interconnected to a provider’s IP network.
Link
A link is the logical element that defines the relationship between two sectors or nodes. There are two different types of links:
Wired - Ethernet links used for Primary-DN to Secondary-DN connections, or occasionally wired cross-site connections.
Wireless - RF links, used for DN to DN or DN to CN connections.
A Sample Network
Below network consists of four sites, four nodes and three links
Map view
Topology screens
Sites
Nodes
Links
