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back to article Can Qualcomm broker a peace deal between LTE and Wi-Fi in unlicensed spectrum?

Here’s something you wouldn’t expect to see at Mobile World Congress: LTE and Wi-Fi service providers and vendors together in a room, clinking champagne glasses to celebrate a new technology that will allow the two wireless standards to use the same band of unlicensed spectrum. So it was at the MulteFire Alliance launch on …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Typical

    There's precious little unlicensed spectrum as it is, without commercial operators trying to avoid licence fees by tramping all over it with what will doubtless prove to be defective non-interference algorithms. Open source channel-hopping LBT-blocking firmware for the odd spare 5GHz access point suddenly seems like a good idea...

    4 1 Reply
    1. Mage Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Typical

      hidden Transmitter Syndrome.

      Non-interference and so Called White Space is fantasy no matter what you call it or what band. The Shannon Nyquist law and limit, 1948. Still all true.

      5 0 Reply
  2. Mage Silver badge

    Wi-Fi stakeholders

    Ultimately the Public, consumers. Qualcomm is no-one's friend, they are out to sell chips & licences. They will want this. I'm not convinced Operators do. I know decent ISPs won't touch unlicensed spectrum.

    I think this is Qualcomm greed.

    Mobile Operators misuse far too much spectrum (Coverage in Ireland FALLING due to lack of regulator conditions) already because Regulators love the licence fees.

    Mobile Services and other paid for subscription services should actually be forbidden to use ISM, which should be short range free consumer ad hoc use only/

    4 1 Reply
    1. Preston Munchensonton
      Reply Icon

      Re: Wi-Fi stakeholders

      I think this is Qualcomm greed.

      Of course this is Qualcomm greed. They're out to make money. Surely, you've heard that necessity is the mother of invention? They're trying to fill a niche, albeit with a deeply flawed solution that isn't likely to have the sort of adoption needed to become mainstream (at least IMO).

      That said, the unlicensed 5Ghz bands are already strained for available bandwidth, with the introduction of 802.11ac Wave 2 reducing it to the sort of 3 real channels like we experience in 2.4Ghz. Personally, I really think that LTE operators will choose to stay away from these unlicensed bands, even if they could, simply because they can't guaranteed an interference-free experience for customers.

      1 0 Reply
  3. druck Silver badge
    Stop

    Ofcom

    Lets get in early and start lobbying Ofcom to prevent this happening in the UK.

    0 0 Reply

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