TV White Space Applied in Rural Broadband Wireless Communication
TV Whitespace (TVWS) radios are being deployed in rural communities by ISPs to provide broadband services. Radio wave propagation at 470 -698 MHz (United States) and 470 - 786 MHz (Global) favors NLOS communications.
The 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz and recently 3.5 GHz (CBRS) frequency bands are densely populated and its users are either unlicensed or minimally regulated.
Close to 1 million residences in the US are short of a wireless service fast enough to match FCC's definition of broadband speed (25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream). Since most of these homes are in rural areas, it is relatively too expensive or unprofitable for ISPs or major carriers to lay optical fiber.
The advent of point-to-multipoint wireless services in the early 2000s led to wireless internet service providers (WISPs) whose number has exponentially grown to 1,500 companies each with a fair share of the customer base. There has been a notable difference in downstream and upstream speeds among the various WISPs but over the years, these speeds have steadily increased to the advantage of the WISPs due to advancements in technologies.
TV White Space (IEEE 802.11af) Devices
These devices (also known as White-Fi or TVWS devices) operate in the frequency gaps between unused TV channels also referred to as "buffer" channels. These buffer channels are placed between active TV channels to protect broadcasting interference. In the U.S. white space spectrum covers 54 MHz to 698 MHz (TV Channels 2 to 51).
The beauty of TV White Space frequency band is that the low frequency enables very good in-building propagation (lower frequencies penetrate walls better) and allows for long-range wireless links (penetrates foliage and goes around buildings very well) so the typical application is rural or remote wireless links.
For a custom signal improvement solution, Please contact an RFWEL Wireless Specialist.
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