Reference:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140909162341.htm
Rice University's Wireless Network Group has created a multi-user, multi-antenna transmission scheme for unused UHF TV spectrum (which are were opened after the recent switch to digital television) to streams of data over wireless hotspots.
The conventional wireless frequency can go fast but if it comes across a brick wall, the quality of the signal degrades. The UHF can travel fast but it hasn't had the high capacity of WiFi.
The new scheme intends to provide the best of both schemes.
Rice's technology combines several proven technologies that are already widely used in wireless data transmission. One of these is "multiple-input, multiple-output" (MIMO), a scheme that employs multiple antennae to boost data rates without the need for additional channels or transmitter power. In effect, MIMO allows for a larger wireless "pipeline," and the technology is standard in the latest generation of wireless routers and networking equipment.
UHF is often referred to as the "beach front" portion of the wireless spectrum because the signals travel for miles, and one popular idea for the liberated portion of the spectrum is for "open" wireless access points like those used for today's WiFi hotspots. Using UHF for broadband Internet is particularly appealing for rural areas where wired broadband is unavailable.
According to The researchers of Rice technology "Based on over-the-air experiments in a range of indoor and outdoor operating environments, we found that UHF-band multiuser MIMO compared favorably and produced high spectral efficiency as well as low-overhead wireless access".
