Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Project aims to stop interference in wireless signals

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2003 04:54:53 -0400

Auckland University Project Studies Wireless Signal Interference

A project conducted by Auckland University engineers will look at the methods
for isolating wireless radio signals in city blocks containing apartments, homes
and offices. The 3-year study is to determine how certain building materials
could stop signals from sharing common spectrum. The project comes to light
as the risk of spectrum interference increases with more and more wireless
services competing in a limited amount of spectrum, i.e. cellular, Wi-Fi, 802.11,
Bluetooth and wireless monitoring systems.

===============================================================================

Project aims to stop interference in wireless signals

03.06.2003
By PETER GRIFFIN

With the Broadcast Communications versus Walker
Wireless radio interference dispute buried with an
out-of-court settlement, wireless providers are keenly
aware of the headaches of spectrum management.

Engineers at Auckland University want to undertake a two-
to three-year research project that will look at ways of
isolating radio signals in built-up apartment and office
blocks. Rather than study ways of modifying hardware to
prevent interference, the engineers will investigate how
building materials can be used to stop signals sharing the
same spectrum interfering with each other.

The research will look at how wireless devices, whether
they are cellular, Wi-Fi 802.11, Bluetooth or wireless
monitoring systems, interfere with one another in built-up
environments.

Professor Allan Williamson of the university's School of
Engineering, said the risk of interference degrading
wireless services was increasing as more devices
communicated wirelessly.

"Any building owner will tell you that one of the big costs in
the trade is refurbishing for data services. Increasingly,
people are going for wireless systems because they are
reconfigurable," said Williamson.

At its simplest form, that involved putting screens on
intervening walls between offices, creating buffer zones.

"It's a conducting film that has apertures in it that are of the
right size to let certain frequencies through but exclude
others.

"It could almost be a copper foil lining the back of your GIB
board, or aluminium foil on the back of wallpaper or vinyl,"
said Williamson.

The idea was to design materials that could be made
cheaply enough to allow the retro fitting of existing buildings
as well as installation in new buildings.

Finding a solution was easy, but finding one that was
commercially viable was not, Williamson said.

The engineering department was seeking funding so it
could proceed with the research.

It hoped to come up with commercial solutions to radio
interference that could be exported.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/businessstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3505332&thesection=business&thesubsection=technology&thesecondsubsection=information&thetickercode=
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