Multi-band Modulation, Coding, and Medium Access Control for Wireless Networks

Background The IEEE 802.11n standard, which some enterprises are already adding into their wireless plans, promises to replace the Ethernet and bring WLANS and UWB into one virtually seamless web. This technology enhances 802.11n and similar standards by jointly designing the MAC and PHY layers of multiple frequency networks.

Invention Description The technology is a protocol and design scaffolding that can be used to create high-performance, very high-throughput wireless local area networks. The technology jointly designs the modulation, coding, etc. of the MAC with PHY multiple bands, reducing overhead while leveraging available frequencies and their bandwidth.

Benefits

Overhead and latency are reduced. Communication range is extended. We anticipate that there is no cost impact to balance off beyond the very modest licensing fee. Multi-band moduling and coding and MAC move WLAN into the cognitive arena.

Features

This is a next-generation protocol backwardly compatible with 802.11n. It handles Gigabyte through 5x communication rates. It exploits the realization that if you use lower frequencies for lower throughput and higher ones for higher throughput, you gain intrinsic advantages.

Market Potential/Applications A 2005 Frost and Sullivan report stated that the worldwide market for wireless chipsets in total is forecasted to be about $6.6 billion in 2009. The $6.6 billion total revenue broken down by technology is $4.4 billion for WLAN, $1.3 billion for UWB, $0.2 billion for Firewire, and about $.8 billion for other technologies. Growth in the market was forecasted to be about 20 percent per year.

Today 802.11n is a reality and it is moving briskly into the market. Knowing the mantra "more bandwidth, cheaper," 801.11n will slake the thirst for speed and throughput for only so long; at that point, VHT networks will be sought. That is where this technology comes in; it provides them in a backwardly compatible way. This year, Frost and Sullivan estimated there are over 2 billion wired USB connections in the world today, and the demand for network connections is growing. A fraction of a penny on chipsets for WLAN and UWB alone is likely to be a substantial sum.

Development Stage Lab/bench prototype

IP Status One U.S. patent application filed

UT Researcher Robert W. Heath, Jr., Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin Robert C. Daniels, Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

Type of Offer: Licensing



« More Computer Science Patents

---