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WolfRiverCam
The 2 things that drive me, is live wildlife video streaming and being a ...
Luis Sanchez
I think this would be a good opportunity for other countries that haven't made ...
U.S. funds 'white space' net research
George Leopold
9/3/2010 1:21 PM EDT
WASHINGTON -- As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) prepares for a Sept. 23 vote on releasing unused TV spectrum for new wireless services, university researchers said they have receive a federal grant to begin testing the so-called “white space” TV spectrum for delivering high-speed Internet services.
Rice University said Thursday (Sept. 2) it has received a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a five-year project that will use licensed TV spectrum between 500-700 MHz for a wide-area Wi-Fi network. The university operates the network in a Houston neighborhood along with a non-profit group.
White space refers to unused broadcast TV frequencies that are set aside to avoid interference between channels or are unused in a particular market. The spectrum became available in 2008 after completion of the U.S. transition to digital TV.
The university said the federal funds will be used to develop and test custom networking equipment along with smart phones, laptops and other unspecified devices that can receive white space signals while switching frequencies. “The use of white space should eliminate many of the problems related to Wi-Fi 'dead zones,' so the overall user experience should improve,” Edward Knightly, Rice’s principal investigator, said in a statement.
Researchers said white space nodes will be able to cover a much larger area. The Houston project will seek to combine the higher data rates provided by Wi-Fi networks with the broader coverage in advanced network architectures.
The FCC said this week it will vote later this month on a proposed rule that would create “opportunities for investment and innovation in advanced Wi-Fi technologies and a variety of broadband services.” The agency initially proposed using TV airwaves for wireless applications in November 2008. This month’s vote would formally approve the white space plan.
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junko.yoshida
9/3/2010 2:24 PM EDT
Who else has any novel ideas or new technology development plans for the white space use?
If you are one of them, please let us know.
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Rich Krajewski
9/3/2010 11:36 PM EDT
I thought white space is one of the initial spectrum targets of cognitive radio. (Well, I guess any spectrum is a target for cognitive radio.) I'm learning about it for an article on the subject.
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daleste
9/3/2010 2:30 PM EDT
Hmm, my understanding of why analog TV broadcast was eliminated by the government was that the frequency space was in critical need for other uses. Now we are looking for ways to use it. Seems like typical government double speak. I do like having digital TV, but many had to suffer when the plug was pulled on analog broadcast.
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Mark Wehrmeister
9/3/2010 9:53 PM EDT
It is not doublespeak, the spectrum is needed because the other available broadcast frequencies are filling up. Freeing up the spectrum by eliminating analog television took many years and now that it is available, researchers can find the best ways to use it.
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Rich Krajewski
9/3/2010 11:50 PM EDT
I wish government would take all the spectrum that broadcast TV uses, not just some. We'll need that spectrum for when my refrigerator needs to tell the folks at the LG plant that my two year old knockwurst in the back of the fridge has become self-aware. Besides, when that old time sink, TV, dies, I expect a new golden age of prosperity once people get over withdrawal symptoms.
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LarryM99
9/3/2010 3:52 PM EDT
This is a fundamental shift in how the FCC works, and personally I find it very exciting. It is not simply spare bandwidth to be used, but is instead a very different model for how devices can compete / cooperate for shared resources. I highly recommend a paper entitled "Supercommons: Toward a Unified Theory of Wireless Communications" by Kevin Werbach as background material.
Larry M.
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chanj
9/3/2010 4:38 PM EDT
Wide Area WiFi is one of the many applications. I am wondering what MAC layer protocol is going to be like. The current CSMA/CA can be problematic when the density goes up. Remembering years back, I was doing research on satellite data communication. DVB-RCS can be one of the candidates.
On the other hands, if white space is used to create a mash network and a WiFi AP is used to provide last mile connectivity, the challenge of MAC will be relived.
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LarryM99
9/6/2010 2:05 PM EDT
These devices are not going to be simple by any stretch of the imagination. They will be required to both have full cognitive radio capability and GPS. The latter is used to avoid interference with stage mikes used in theaters and stadiums. This interference is the reason that Dolly Parton was stumping against the FCC doing this.
The real win here is for innovative new devices. This opens up a good spectrum area that will not require deep pockets and political connections to use. The innovation that grew up around the ISM bands (relatively crappy spectrum that no one else really wanted) will finally have good spectrum space in which to grow.
Larry M.
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Luis Sanchez
9/6/2010 4:51 PM EDT
I think this would be a good opportunity for other countries that haven't made the analog-to-digital switch to begin research at an early time so that when the time arrives their will already be products to the public which use the "white space" spectrum. One question I have though... for delivering the broadcast of TV, powerfull and high towers where required... wouldn't high power radios be also required to transmit back from the hand-held devices to the mainstream?
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WolfRiverCam
9/9/2010 9:12 AM EDT
The 2 things that drive me, is live wildlife video streaming and being a volunteer firefighter. WS Wifi will largly impact both of those. Video streaming, I will be able to pretty much put a live camera anywhere with relative ease. Firefighter communications being critical, we have rural areas that we are not able to have reliable communications. I think this technology will push development of communication equipment the fire service will be able to utilize. Another tool would be for firefighter accountability. RFID/Wifi "tags" is a newer technology, but if I can see the location of my firefighters and monitor their physical condition on a computer screen, I can have a better idea when people need to be rehabilitated or rescued.
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