A device capable of skipping between incompatible wireless standards by tweaking its underlying code has been given the go-ahead for outdoor trials in Ireland.
Ireland鈥檚 communications regulator Comreg has issued one of the world鈥檚 first licences for publicly testing a 鈥渟oftware-defined radio鈥� device, which has been developed by researchers at the Centre for Telecommunications Value-Chain Research (CTVR) in Dublin.
The device can impersonate a multitude of different wireless devices since it uses reconfigurable software to carry out the tasks normally performed by static hardware. 鈥淚鈥檓 interested in a future where a single device can use every possible frequency,鈥� says Linda Doyle, who heads up the CTVR project, which is one of several competing projects worldwide.
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The technology promises to let future gadgets jump between frequencies and standards that currently conflict. A cellphone could, for example, automatically detect and jump to a much faster Wi-Fi network when in a local hotspot. Devices could even decide for themselves which standard to use and might even be able to tease information from overlapping, or interfering, signals.
Although software-defined radio devices use a normal antenna and amplifier to receive a signal they are fundamentally different from conventional radio-based equipment. An analogue-to-digital converter changes the signal into a digital format, which can be then be processed and manipulated by the software. And the software can reconfigure itself to let the device retrieve information sent at alternative frequencies or encoded (modulated) in a different way.
Allocated spectrum
The CTVR trial will involve testing communications between software-defined radio devices across the radio frequencies of 2.08 gigahertz to 2.35 GHz, at several sites across Ireland.
The researchers will try switching the radios between frequencies and modulations for different applications, such as audio and streaming video or data transmission, and will also let the devices automatically select the best standard to use.
The underlying technology has the potential to revolutionise wireless communications but has been difficult to test outside the laboratory until now as the majority of the radio spectrum has already been allocated. Licences are normally limited to a particular radio frequency and modulation but the one issued to CTVR permits a device to hop quickly between many different standards.
The CTVR trial will also test how easily frequencies can be dynamically allocated to different devices. One idea is for companies that own a licence to automatically 鈥渟ublet鈥� access depending on demand. 鈥淭he licence means we will be the first research centre in the world to practically investigate the commercial potential of dynamic spectrum-allocation,鈥� Doyle adds.
