back to article Nokia demonstrates: White Space ploy can get more 4G handsets into same spectrum

Nokia has successfully demonstrated a 4G LTE network which can hop aside when someone else wants the frequency, opening up the possibilities for dynamically-shared radio spectrum. Nokia's test network reached three Finnish cities and was able to switch radio frequencies based on availability by regularly checking back with a …

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  1. Mage Silver badge

    Similar

    But not actually White Space at all. It's fully managed

    TV transmitters can't change frequency.

    Proposed TV White Space is unmanaged and the idea is the ordinary public buys devices using the TV band. There is no way to Police it, ensure all TV users are OK or detect gadget users adding too big aerials, more power or disabling database.

    With so called TV White Space there is no mechanism for TV receivers to report which channel they are really using due to local topology. Which may not be what the official database predicts. Nor can the TV transmitters change.

    This Nokia scheme is fully managed sharing and can work. Not really white space at all. TV White Space is a totally evil concept making broadcast users into unprotected secondary users.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nokia's "ASA" is a technology for using so called "whire space" efficiently - a mnagement techinque.

    The term "white space" refers to ranges of spectrum - so the two are completely different things.

    This difference should be obvious to even the non-technical, it is rather like confusing the physical structure of roads in the UK with the "Highway Code" handbook !

  3. Dr. Mouse

    Sounds good

    This sounds like it would be a great asset, especially for femto-cells and the like. It would free such tiny cells from the control of the big networks. It would be a huge win for consumers.

    1. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: Sounds good

      Only problem is interactive access to the database, for which a subscription will almost certainly be required. And the organisations best placed to manage such subscriptions will be the big networks...

  4. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    Niice tech demo with dubious claims

    This is a nice tech demo but makes dubious claims. So, this allowed an 18% increase in capacity how exactly? Do they simply mean they added 18% more total spectrum by using 2.3ghz spectrum? Or do they claim they were doing something to make the LTE use more efficient. If so, it seems any technique for improving LTE capacity would work on licensed bands too, also yielding an 18% improvement.

    "It would be better if the radios could decide between themselves what band to use, but that presents technical problems which may prove insurmountable. "

    It is insurmountable. It's "hidden node problem" writ large -- little short-range transceivers with crappy little antennas cannot pick up weak TV channels, will therefore decide the channel is clear and blast right over the legitimate user of the channel. Microsoft tried -- twice -- to demonstrate this would work fine, they blasted over the channel both times, and both times claimed it was software problems (which made me chuckle -- Microsoft writing buggy software? No kidding) rather than admitting the much more likely explanation that the antenna was not sensitive enough to assess the channel so it didn't work. After the second attempt they seem to have ditched it.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Network operators, having paid enormous sums of money for exclusive access to slivers of spectrum, shouldn't be expected to embrace such an approach. For all their public demands for more spectrum, every MHz released decreases the value of their assets - particularly given that the FCC and Ofcom are both making use of White Space licence-free."

    I don't know about Ofcom, but with every MHz release, the FCC makes a lot of money. Would the government really want to let go of a cash cow? They are like a dealer; get the recipients hooked and maximize your money intake.

  6. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects

    Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking...

    (As long as NSA keeps quiet long may that continue.)

    Doesn't it seem to anyone else that this is a technology with an inbuilt design failure?

    I know nobody in their right minds would ever consider creating a denial of service attack; I mean to say, it is against the ethics of freedom of speech right?

    Not even the American Government would do that, right?

    Sooooo....

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