FCC To Open Up Vacant TV Airwaves For Broadband 187
crimeandpunishment writes "Get ready for 'super Wi-Fi.' If the FCC works out the last details of new spectrum rules, they'll open up the so-called 'white spaces'... the vacant airwaves between broadcast TV channels ... for wireless broadband connections. If the plan goes through, it will lead to Wi-Fi with longer range and stronger power. The stumbling blocks have included concerns about interference with TV signals and wireless microphones, but the FCC plans to vote next week on rules meant to resolve those issues."
What open frequencies? (Score:3, Informative)
>>>Digital TV is somewhat more imune to interference than analog
False. I've switched to DTV and it's amazing what will block it. I turned on a vacuum cleaner and said goodbye to 50-mile distant channel 6 disappeared. In the old analog world it would have simple added some "fuzz" on the screen but still watchable. And when we have storms, we lose the DTV where the old analog signal never disappeared. DTV can no longer be relied upon for areas with bad weather (think Tornado Alley from Texas to Minnesota) (or Hurricane Alley from Florida to Maryland).
And what open frequencies?
No joking but here is a list of all the channels currently in used along the Mid-Atlantic (near New Jersey). Where the hell does the FCC think Wifi devices are supposed to operate? I suspect what will actually happen is the teen girl next door will turn-on her device directly over top the Baltimore or Philadelphia station I'm trying to watch and make it disappear.
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14-21 (reserved for police in NY City and state)
24
26
27
28
29
31
32
33
35 (reserved for radioastronomy)
37
39
41
43
44
45
48
49
50
Plus dozens of low-power "neighborhood" transmitters that serve local communities.
Re:TV signals (Score:3, Informative)
And you have to either throw away HD, or switch to MPEG-4 (obseleting receivers, etc). A single 19Mpbs transport stream can't hold two decent-quality 720p MPEG-2 channels, so either you go with 480p or you overcompress to the point that it looks worse than 480p.
Re:Phased Arrays Yet? (Score:4, Informative)
Google adaptive beam-forming, this is what you are referring to. It is used in the electronic warfare field, and a crude version of it has even made its way into some lower power consumer equipment like N-band routers...Creating an adaptable phased array directional enough to null out, to the point of non-interference one of two powerful/closely located transmitters is no easy, or cheap task.
Also, we aren't talking about a 2.4GHZ router. On the low end of UHF, there is also a significant size/portability issue governed by physics/antenna theory that won't be solved even if you figured out the economic issue.
The idea that adaptive beamforming is going to come to every piece of consumer VHF/UHF equipment and make the FCC irrelevant is wildly optimistic