World’s First Breakthrough Achieved for Long-Range Broadband Communications in TV White Space

The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) and Hitachi Kokusai Electric recently succeeded in the world’s first field trial where long-range broadband communications in the TV white space was confirmed by using IEEE 802.22-based and IEEE 802.11af-based systems.

In this trial, NICT and Hitachi Kokusai observed successful downstream and upstream data transmission at 12.7 km distance between IEEE 802.22-based base station and customer premises equipment, at a speed of 5.2 Mbps and 4.5Mbps, respectively. In addition, NICT and Hitachi Kokusai constructed a multi-hop network by using IEEE 802.22 as a backbone link and IEEE 802.11af, which is connected to it, to expand its connection area. In this trial, they demonstrated some applications such as video monitoring of roads and cliffs and video telephone in mountain areas where there are no wired/wireless Internet connections available. These achievements showed feasibility of providing broadband services in rural areas and supporting radio communications during disasters relief activities.