Cobra Series MESH

Cobra 2202-P Dual Port, Dual Radio 54 mbps 802.3af Portal
Cobra 2202-N Dual Port, Dual Radio 54 mbps 802.3af Node
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The Cobra Series MESH device is built on the robust Linux™ platform and a field proven single board computer. In today’s wireless surveillance market uptime is critical and throughput is paramount to almost any installation. The Cobra MESH device is the answer to both of these industry wide concerns, all the while maintaining a very competitive price point. Utilizing an improved version of the popular HWMP MESH protocol the Cobra Series MESH units can be rapidly deployed in almost any RF environment. By combining the HWMP+ protocol with the N-Streme & N-Streme Dual protocols we can create a very dynamic and resilient wireless network that will handle even the most resource demanding tasks.

Features

HWMP+ is a specific layer-2 routing protocol for wireless mesh networks. It is based on Hybrid Wireless Mesh Protocol (HWMP) from IEEE 802.11s draft standard. It can be used in place of (Rapid) Spanning Tree protocols in mesh setups to ensure loop-free optimal routing.

The HWMP+ protocol however is not compatible with HWMP from IEEE 802.11s draft standard.

Note that the distribution system used for the network does not need to be Wireless Distribution System (WDS). HWMP+ mesh routing supports not only WDS interfaces, but also Ethernet interfaces inside the mesh. So you can use simple Ethernet based distribution system or you can combine both WDS and Ethernet links.

Reactive Messaging Mode

In reactive mode HWMP+ is very much like AODV (Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Vector). All paths are discovered on demand, by flooding Path Request (PREQ) messages on the network.

The destination node or some router that has a path to the destination will reply with a Path Response (PREP). If the destination address belongs to a client, the Portal this client is connected to will serve as proxy for the client device (i.e. reply to PREQs on behalf of the client).

Proactive Messaging Mode

In proactive mode there are some Cobra devices configured as portals. In general, being a portal means that the device has interfaces to some other network, (i.e. it’s entry/exit point to the mesh network).

The portals will announce their presence by flooding Root Announcement (RANN) message in the network. Internal nodes will reply with a Path Registration (PREG) message. The result of this process will be routing trees with roots in the portal. Portal nodes will act as default gateways for the mesh network. If an internal router does not know the path to a particular destination, it will forward all data to its closest portal. The portal(s) will then discover the best path on behalf of the member routers when needed. Once the best path is discovered, the closet portal will become the default gateways for the mesh node. Proactive mode is best suited when most of the traffic goes between internal mesh nodes and a few portal nodes.

Cobra Series MESH:  Product Specifications