Super Wi-Fi

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Super Wi-Fi refers to IEEE 802.11g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi implementations over unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi bands but with performance enhancements for antenna control, multiple path beam selection, advance control for best path, and applied intelligence for load balancing giving it bi-directional connectivity range for standard wifi enabled devices over distances of up to 1,700 meters. Hong Kong–based Altai Technologies (http://www.altaitechnologies.com) developed and patented Super Wi-Fi technology and manufacturers a product line of base stations and access points deployed extensively around the world beginning in 2007. Due to its extended range and advanced interference mitigation, Super Wi-Fi is primarily used for expansive outdoor and heavy industrial use cases. (https://www.altaitechnologies.com/case-studies-logistics/) Krysp Wireless, LLC (https://kryspwireless.com) is Altai Technologies' Master Distributor for North America focused on the sale and distribution of Super Wi-Fi products for large enterprises, WISPs and municipal deployments. Altai's Super Wi-Fi technology should not be confused with the FCC's use of the term relating to proposed plans announced in 2012 for using TV white space spectrum to support delivery of long range internet access.

Contents

History

Super Wi-Fi is a term originally coined by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to describe a wireless networking proposal which the FCC plans to use for the creation of longer-distance wireless Internet access. [1] [2] The use of the trademark "Wi-Fi" in the name has been criticized because it is neither based on Wi-Fi technology nor endorsed by the Wi-Fi Alliance. [1] A trade show has also been called the "Super WiFi Summit" (without hyphen). [3]

Various standards such as IEEE 802.22 and IEEE 802.11af have been proposed for this concept. The term "White-Fi" [4] has also been used to indicate the use of white space for IEEE 802.11af. [5] [6]

Technology

Altai Technologies' Super Wi-Fi leverages a dynamic use of unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz bands to seamlessly migrate nomadic device connections from one band to the other depending on their distance from the Super Wi-Fi base station/access point. This dynamic use of both unlicensed bands combined with patented throughput optimization and interference mitigation is what supports Super Wi-Fi's extended range. Conversely, The FCC's Super Wi-Fi proposal is a network backhaul solution that uses the lower-frequency white spaces between television channel frequencies. [7] These lower frequencies allow the signal to travel further and penetrate walls better than the higher frequencies previously used. [7] The FCC's plan was to allow those white space frequencies to be used for free, as happens with shorter-range Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. [7] However, due to concerns of interference to broadcast, Super Wi-Fi devices cannot access the TV spectrum at will. The FCC has made mandatory the utilization of a TV white space database (also referred to as a geolocation database), which must be accessed by Super Wi-Fi devices before the latter gain access to the VHF-UHF spectrum. The white space database evaluates the potential for interference to broadcast and either grants or denies access of Super Wi-Fi devices to the VHF-UHF spectrum. Continuing research exists evaluating the potential for Super Wi-Fi Networks for coverage and performance. [8] [9]

Deployments

Altai Technologies' Super Wi-Fi deployment use cases around the world include container ports, heavy industrial complexes, campus environments, mining operations, agriculture and airports among others (https://kryspwireless.com/resources/case-studies/). Proof of concept deployments for the FCC's Super Wi-Fi initiative leveraging TV white space include Rice University, in partnership with the nonprofit organization Technology For All, installed the first residential deployment of Super Wi-Fi in east Houston in April 2011. The network uses white spaces for backhaul and provides access to clients using 2.4  GHz Wi-Fi. [10] A month later, a public Super Wi-Fi network was deployed in Calgary, Alberta, when Calgary-based company WestNet Wireless launched the network for free and paid subscribers. [11] The United States' first public Super Wi-Fi network was deployed in Wilmington, North Carolina, on January 26, 2012. Florida-based company Spectrum Bridge launched a network for public use with access at Hugh MacRae park. [12] West Virginia University launched the first campus Super Wi-Fi network on July 9, 2013. [13]

Currently, Microsoft is using TV Whitespaces to provide Super Wi-Fi connectivity in select regions across Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. [14] This is after running successful trials back in 2012 in countries such as Belgium, Kenya, Switzerland, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay. As of 2021, Microsoft runs the service under Project Mawingu in Microsoft 4Afrika to provide low-cost internet access within rural communities in the African continent. [15] The countries served include the likes of Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana and Botswana.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IEEE 802.11</span> Wireless network standard

IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of local area network (LAN) technical standards, and specifies the set of medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication. The standard and amendments provide the basis for wireless network products using the Wi-Fi brand and are the world's most widely used wireless computer networking standards. IEEE 802.11 is used in most home and office networks to allow laptops, printers, smartphones, and other devices to communicate with each other and access the Internet without connecting wires. IEEE 802.11 is also a basis for vehicle-based communication networks with IEEE 802.11p.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wi-Fi</span> Wireless local area network

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Wireless local loop (WLL) is the use of a wireless communications link as the "last mile / first mile" connection for delivering plain old telephone service (POTS) or Internet access to telecommunications customers. Various types of WLL systems and technologies exist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WiMAX</span> Wireless broadband standard

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S band</span> Frequency range

The S band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). Thus it crosses the conventional boundary between the UHF and SHF bands at 3.0 GHz. The S band is used by airport surveillance radar for air traffic control, weather radar, surface ship radar, and some communications satellites, particularly satellites used by NASA to communicate with the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. The 10 cm radar short-band ranges roughly from 1.55 to 5.2 GHz. India's regional satellite navigation network (IRNSS) broadcasts on 2.483778 to 2.500278 GHz.

IEEE 802.22, is a standard for wireless regional area network (WRAN) using white spaces in the television (TV) frequency spectrum. The development of the IEEE 802.22 WRAN standard is aimed at using cognitive radio (CR) techniques to allow sharing of geographically unused spectrum allocated to the television broadcast service, on a non-interfering basis, to bring broadband access to hard-to-reach, low population density areas, typical of rural environments, and is therefore timely and has the potential for a wide applicability worldwide. It is the first worldwide effort to define a standardized air interface based on CR techniques for the opportunistic use of TV bands on a non-interfering basis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HomeRF</span> Wireless networking specification

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-speed multimedia radio</span>

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Cognio, Inc. was an American company that developed and marketed radio frequency (RF) spectrum analysis products that find and solve channel interference problems on wireless networks and in wireless applications. Cognio’s Spectrum Expert product was designed for common frequency bands such as RFID and Wi-Fi. It was sold primarily to network engineers responsible for security for wireless networks or applications that run on wireless networks. Cognio was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2007.

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IEEE 802.11af, also referred to as White-Fi and Super Wi-Fi, is a wireless computer networking standard in the 802.11 family, that allows wireless local area network (WLAN) operation in TV white space spectrum in the VHF and UHF bands between 54 and 790 MHz. The standard was approved in February 2014. Cognitive radio technology is used to transmit on unused portions of TV channel band allocations, with the standard taking measures to limit interference for primary users, such as analog TV, digital TV, and wireless microphones.

LTE in unlicensed spectrum is an extension of the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless standard that allows cellular network operators to offload some of their data traffic by accessing the unlicensed 5 GHz frequency band. LTE-Unlicensed is a proposal, originally developed by Qualcomm, for the use of the 4G LTE radio communications technology in unlicensed spectrum, such as the 5 GHz band used by 802.11a and 802.11ac compliant Wi-Fi equipment. It would serve as an alternative to carrier-owned Wi-Fi hotspots. Currently, there are a number of variants of LTE operation in the unlicensed band, namely LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA), MulteFire, sXGP and CBRS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wi-Fi 6</span> Wireless networking standard

Wi-Fi 6, or IEEE 802.11ax, is an IEEE standard from the Wi-Fi Alliance, for wireless networks (WLANs). It operates in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, with an extended version, Wi-Fi 6E, that adds the 6 GHz band. It is an upgrade from Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), with improvements for better performance in crowded places. Wi-Fi 6 covers frequencies in license-exempt bands between 1 and 7.125 GHz, including the commonly used 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, as well as the broader 6 GHz band.

White Space Internet uses a part of the radio spectrum known as white spaces. The frequency range is created when there are gaps between the coverage areas of television channels. The spaces can provide broadband internet access that is similar to that of 4G mobile.

References

  1. 1 2 Sascha Segan (January 27, 2012). "'Super Wi-Fi': Super, But Not Wi-Fi". PC Magazine . Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  2. ↑ Dana Blankenhorn (20 September 2010). "Super WiFi solves the Google carrier problem". ZDNet . Archived from the original on September 23, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Super Wi-Fi Summit". Technology Marketing Corporation. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  4. ↑ "IEEE 802.11af", Wikipedia, 2019-10-01, retrieved 2020-03-03
  5. ↑ "White-Fi IEEE 802.11af | Electronics Notes". www.electronics-notes.com. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  6. ↑ Stephenson, Brad. "Your Intro to White-Fi, Super Wi-Fi, and White Space Wi-Fi". Lifewire. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  7. 1 2 3 "'Super Wi-Fi' nears final approval in U.S." CBC. Associated Press. September 13, 2010. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  8. ↑ Krishnan, Neelakantan Nurani; Sridharan, Gokul; Seskar, Ivan; Mandayam, Narayan (2017-04-26). "Coverage and Rate Analysis of Super Wi-Fi Networks Using Stochastic Geometry". arXiv: 1704.08152 [cs.IT].
  9. ↑ T. Wang, J. Wang, C. Jiang, J. Wang and Y. Ren, "Access Strategy in Super WiFi Network Powered by Solar Energy Harvesting: A POMDP Method," 2016 IEEE 83rd Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC Spring), Nanjing, 2016, pp. 1-6.
  10. ↑ "Houston grandmother is nation's first 'Super Wi-Fi' user". PhysOrg . 19 April 2011.
  11. ↑ "Calgary Super Wi-Fi Network". WestNet. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  12. ↑ Parrish, Kevin (27 January 2012). "First Super Wi-Fi Network in the U.S. Finally Deployed". Tom's Guide US. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  13. ↑ "Nation's first campus 'Super Wi-Fi' network launches at West Virginia University". wvutoday. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  14. ↑ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/spectrum-microsoft-super-wifi-overview.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  15. ↑ Corporation, Microsoft. "Microsoft - 4Afrika - Success Stories - Connecting The Unconnected". Microsoft - 4Afrika - Success Stories - Connecting The Unconnected. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
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