By Lucas van Grinsven
Amsterdam - A new communications tool that "whispers" on busy radio channels could enable broadband Internet services for on-the-go wireless devices or hook-up homes that cannot yet get fast Web access, its inventor said.
xMax, the latest innovation in broadband communications, is a very quiet radio system that uses radio channels already filled up with noisy pager or TV signals, said inventor Joe Bobier.
"xMax is trespassing radio frequencies, although trespassing is not the right word, because we're allowed to transmit a signal if it doesn't interfere with other, stronger signals," said Bobier.
The technology could interest a telecoms or Internet operator with no radio spectrum What is unique about the system is that it can emit signals that are too weak to be picked up by normal antennas, but that can be "heard" by special aerials which know where to "listen", thus enabling dual usage of the same scarce radio spectrum.
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The technology could interest a telecoms or Internet operator with no radio spectrum because it can begin a wireless broadband service with very few base stations and add more stations and increase density as demand rises.
It is also appealing for rural areas which operators find too costly to cover with the current third generation cellphone networks which need base stations every few miles.
"We're talking about a 400 to 500 percent improvement in range," Bobier said, adding that this was still much better than Flash-OFDM, also touted as a rural area broadband system.
XG Technology, the Florida-based company which owns xMax, is in discussions with several chip makers and equipment makers to build the hardware.
'The sweet spot for xMax happens to be in the lower frequencies' Radio chips for devices should be in the $5 to $6 (about R30 to R40) range when built in volume while base stations will be around $350 000. Those prices are competitive considering the range covered.
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