Manhole Covers Serve as Antennas Expanding Wireless Network Coverage

Re:Manhole Covers Serve as Antennas Expanding Wireless Netwo... by awakeasleep on Wednesday December 19, 2018 @11:39PM (#18722550)

Bandwidth is tremendously important in wireless communications because the more data you can transmit in less time, the less time you need to be transmitting.

In general, only one radio can transmit on one frequency at a time. So a city wide network quickly becomes congested. Reducing the time everyone spends transmitting greatly increases the quality of service and the amount of users that can be serviced.

The increased antenna count is also a benefit in crowded situations. If each antenna covers a smaller range, then more people can use the network in a given area- two antennas that would interfere with each other in a longer range system will operate simultaneously.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Manhole Covers Serve as Antennas Expanding Wireless Netwo... by lykr0n on Wednesday December 19, 2018 @11:54PM (#18722602)

They've solved that issue by deploying more towers in high density areas and carriers have swapped allocations in areas to get more continuous spectrum. Upping the frequency just gives you wider bands.

I think a better argument could be made about spending R&D on making 4G/LTE require a smaller band. I think LTE (assuming 850MHz) can be 1.4, 3, 5, 10MHz per band- which is non-optional. If you could cut the required Tx/Rx band width in half; I think that would be better use of effort.

[ Parent | on HN ]