Innovations in Wireless and Mobile Networks

Wireless networks based on radio waves have dominated the market since the turn of the century. However, they suffer from two major drawbacks. The first of these is a lower data transfer speed which explains why wireless internet connections are slower than ethernet links. The Radio Frequency Spectrum also has a limited scope, which leads to interference that can disrupt wireless connectivity. These are problems we all face as we try to access the internet at home. These networks have started to be replaced by optical light waves which allow data to be transmitted more quickly and with a lower risk of interference. Optical fiber networks have already been rolled out in the west, where they have worked significantly better than traditional Wi-Fi. Reliance Jio has introduced optical wireless networks for domestic internet connections in some parts of Delhi, which it plans to expand in the coming months.

Wireless technology has also started to replace mobile phone chargers. Microsoft has invested in the development of a portable charger that uses light beams to charge mobile phones, hence eliminating the need of having wired chargers altogether. Solar energy as a means to charge phones wirelessly is also being experimented. Airplanes today use networks that have fixed transmission stations on the ground. They suffer from obvious drawbacks because of the coverage issues which leads to prolonged losses of connection- increasing the risk of mid-air accidents and collisions. Airborne networking uses wireless stations on aircraft to beam connections back to the Earth, which reduces the scope of single-point failures and accidents. Researchers at Google are using temporospatial SDN to allow airborne networks to anticipate changes in the location of network stations across different regions.

Cellular networks run the risk of reaching their limits when too many mobile phones connect to them. Moreover, the process of transferring mobile data over conventional cellular infrastructure is not only energy-intensive but also slow. MAMMOET is a European Commission-sponsored project which uses hundreds of antennas unlike conventional networks, which use 1 tower adn1 antenna. Research suggests that this will improve both speed and scalability and allow for better implementation of low-power technology such as internet of Things (IoT) sensors and switches.