Wireless networks are becoming increasingly popular as more of us start using smartphones to watch videos, surf the web, and otherwise communicate with each other. Existing 3G networks, and soon 4G networks, will no doubt be pushed to the breaking point unless we find some way of drastically increasing data capacity.
The typical way to increase capacity on a network is to add more infrastructure, but that’s an expensive undertaking. It can also be time consuming and frustrating for network operators who have to get permission to put up new towers, or dig up the ground to lay cables. This is especially true in heavily populated areas where more antennas and traffic disruption are not what anyone wants to see.
Rice University has come up with a groundbreaking solution, though. One that promises to at least double the capacity of existing networks with the addition of minimal extra hardware. That solution is full duplex wireless communication. This isn’t a new concept, but one that hasn’t been possible until now due to the inherent obstacles it throws up.
Full duplex transmission is the equivalent of trying to have two people talk to each other by having them shout at the same time. Such a system shouldn’t work because you can’t hear what each other is saying. Rice researchers solved that problem by using an extra antenna and adding the ability to cancel out one of the signals (voices) locally. So if two nodes are both sending out data, each node cannot “hear” the data they are transmitting while still being able to receive the data being sent to them.
In effect, this at least doubles the capacity of the line meaning, for example, a Skype call could have better video resolution as well as clearer audio. Or, more importantly, existing networks aren’t going to grind to a halt nearly as quickly as they do today.
If you are wondering how current communication networks manage data, then it depends on what type of network you are operating on. For example, both 3G and ADSL use frequency-division duplexing which manages the throughput of data by altering frequencies, but can be quite wasteful. Full duplex removes the drawbacks as you can use the full throughput of the line in both directions at the same time.
The good news is, Rice University has already tested their full duplex solution. It takes advantage of a technology networks are already familiar with MIMO, which involves using multple antennas to improve a signal. The full-duplex system builds on that using the antennas available to implement the cancelling part of the system.
Read more at Rice University
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