Wireless For Miles, By Leveraging Unused UHF TV Spectrum

VFH and UFH portions of the radio spectrum are reserved for over the air television broadcasts and the Federal Communications Commission keeps plenty of space between channels to prevent interference. But unused UHF TV spectrum could be used for fat streams of data over wireless hotspots that could stretch for miles.

Researchers from Rice University's Wireless Network Group unveiled a multiuser, multiantenna transmission scheme for UHF, which combines several proven technologies that are already widely used in wireless data transmission. One 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. MIMO allows for a larger wireless "pipeline," and the technology is standard in the latest generation of wireless routers and networking equipment.