Bandwidth Breakthrough: Using Algebra to Unclog Wireless Networks
By Karla Robinson
October 25, 2012
October 25, 2012
- Researchers from MIT, Harvard, Caltech, Technical University of Munich and Portugal’s University of Porto collaborated on a technology that uses algebra to alleviate clogged wireless networks responding to dropped packets of data.
- “By providing new ways for mobile devices to solve for missing data,” Technology Review explains, “the technology not only eliminates this wasteful process but also can seamlessly weave data streams from Wi-Fi and LTE — a leap forward from other approaches that toggle back and forth.”
- “The technology transforms the way packets of data are sent,” the article continues. “Instead of sending packets, it sends algebraic equations that describe series of packets. So if a packet goes missing, instead of asking the network to resend it, the receiving device can solve for the missing one itself. Since the equations involved are simple and linear, the processing load on a phone, router, or base station is negligible.”
- The issue of dropped packets is growing due to wireless interference or congestion. Dropped packets further intensify network traffic, compounding the original problem.
- “If the technology works in large-scale deployments as expected, it could help forestall a spectrum crunch,” the article explains. “Cisco Systems says that by 2016, mobile data traffic will grow 18-fold — and Bell Labs goes farther, predicting growth by a factor of 25. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has said the spectrum of available wireless frequencies could run out within a couple of years.”
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