Waiting in the wings, the next generation of wireless technology

Ted Rappaport is in charge of NYU WIRELESS, a New York University research program in downtown Brooklyn that has enlisted researchers to work on the next generation of wireless technology.

His goal? To demonstrate that a commercially viable expansion of spectrum for cellular and Wi-Fi could physically be done.

Many industry players doubted that it was possible. Now, those same people are using the results of the professor's research to begin sketching out their own strategies for the next phase of wireless technology.

Rappaport's team found that signals at 73 gigahertz could be sent and received as far as 200 meters under very dense conditions, with an acceptable number of instances where buildings stopped a signal. Sending and receiving data at these particular narrow frequency bands are what the industry refers to as 5G wireless technology.