{{Short description|Communications network in southern California}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2007}}{{Infobox institute | name = High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network | image = HPWRENLogo.png | caption = HPWREN logo | founder = Hans-Werner Braun<br> Frank Vernon | established = 2000 | owner = [[University of California, San Diego]] * [[San Diego Supercomputer Center]] * [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]] | website = https://www.hpwren.ucsd.edu/ }} The '''High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network''' ('''HPWREN''') is a network infrastructure system that provides Internet access to more than 60 regional fire stations and community access to both meteorological stations and more than 140+ cameras (color and near-infrared) around Southern California.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the High-Performance Wireless Research and Education Network |url=https://www.hpwren.ucsd.edu/about.html |access-date=2025-09-05 |website=www.hpwren.ucsd.edu |language=en}}</ref>
The network was begun in 2000 with the support of the [[National Science Foundation]] to provide communications to remote seismic sensors and other facilities in eastern San Diego County. Its remote camera systems were later expanded to support firefighting efforts in remote wildland areas. In the mid-2010s the network partnered with a regional ALERTWildfire system of wildland cameras, which in 2022 was incorporated into the statewide [[ALERTCalifornia]] wildland camera system.
==Network== The program includes the creation, demonstration, and evaluation of a non-commercial, prototype, high-performance, wide-area, [[wireless network]] in its service area. Currently, the HPWREN network is used for network analysis research, and it also provides high-speed [[Internet]] access to field researchers.
===Service area=== [[Southern California]], specifically [[San Diego County, California|San Diego]], [[Riverside County, California|Riverside]], and [[Imperial County, California|Imperial]] counties.
===Backbone nodes=== The network includes [[Node (networking)|backbone nodes]] located at the [[University of California, San Diego]] (UC San Diego) and [[San Diego State University]] (SDSU) campuses, as well as a number of "hard-to-reach" areas in remote environments.
==Operations== The HPWREN backbone itself operates primarily in the licensed spectrum, and project researchers use off-the-shelf technology to create a redundant topology. Access links often use [[radio license|license]]-exempt radios.
In 2002, HPWREN researchers conducted an expedition to locate the [[SEALAB (United States Navy)|SEALAB II/III habitat]] located off Scripps Pier in [[La Jolla, California]].<ref name=HPWREN2002>{{cite web |author=staff |title=Wireless tests aboard US Navy ship include exploration of USN/SIO Sea Lab II |publisher=High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network |date=2002-02-13 |url=http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/news/020213.html |access-date=2011-02-18}}</ref> From the [[MV Kellie Chouest]] and utilizing a [[Scorpio ROV]] to find the site, researchers were able to conduct a live [[multicast]] from ship to shore.<ref name=HPWREN2002/>
==Topology== The network spans from the [[Southern California]] coast to the inland valleys, on to the high mountains (reaching more than 8700 feet), and out to the remote desert. The network's longest link is {{Convert|72|mi|sp=us}} – reaching from the [[San Diego Supercomputer Center]] to [[San Clemente Island]].
== See also == * [[Mount Laguna Observatory]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/index.html UCSD HPWREN page] * [http://scivee.tv/node/5995 Wireless Sensor Networks for Ecology] A video about high performance wireless research education networks
{{University of California San Diego}} {{San Diego State University}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:High Performance Wireless Research And Education Network}} [[Category:Wireless networking]] [[Category:University of California, San Diego]] [[Category:San Diego State University]] [[Category:Research organizations in the United States]]