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The Illusion of Spectrum Scarcity

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the smoke-and-mirrors dept.

Codeine writes "Presentations to the Technical Advisory Council (TAC) of the FCC by Vanu Bose "Software Radio: Enabling Dynamic Spectrum Management" and by David Reed "How wireless networks scale: the illusion of spectrum scarcity." Counterintuitive results from multiuser information theory, network architectures, and physics: Multipath increases capacity, Repeating increases capacity, Motion increases capacity, Repeating reduces energy (safety), Distributed computation increases battery life, Channel sharing decreases latency and jitter. Highly recommended presentation suggesting that the cost of spectrum management by "exclusive property rights" mandated by the State outweighs the advantages we could obtain from a new model that acknowledges physics and the 70 years of receiver development since the regulatory model was adopted at the time of the sinking of the Titanic."

3 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. Not more capacity! by peterdaly · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Like we need to encourage people to use more capacity! I have more waves buzzing around me already than I know what to do with! I can feel my nuts being sterilized as we speak...err, maybe I should take my Dell lAttitude with 802.11b off my lap.

    Yeah, that's better.

    On a serious note we really need this, I want technologies that can let my 802.11b network at home work without interfearing with my cordless phone and 2.4gig audio/video transitter and reciever. Right now they all fight for the same spectrum and all lose in someway or another.

    -Pete

    --
    Soccer Goal Plans
  2. Airwave should never have been govt. controlled by palfreman · · Score: 0, Interesting

    It should never have happened. As pointed out above, government usurption of radio transmission is just another 20th Century fraud. There isn't anything *about* airwaves that means they could become the property of some official - after all, they have never actually stamped out "pirate" radio (note how they use the same terminolgy today for software). Left to free agents frequancy wavebands settle into agreed usage and custom leading to tradeable ownership, like everything else in the world that the government doesn't grab for itself. It just goes to show how outdated mandated systems of control are.

  3. Communications isn't everything! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There will always be centralized overall spectral management. Communications may be able to be given blocks which are decentrallized but they are not the only users of the spectrum. For example radio astronomers are currently allocated particular bands for operation. Their observations won't be possible if J random cellphone is pouring energy into their band. Also radar systems of various types don't benefit from having increased nosie floors in their operating bands. GPS signals also don't benefit from increased noise floors, you would loose lock on the satellites more frequently.