TV White Space - Breakthrough Technology

Popular Mechanics calls it one of the "10 tech concepts you need to know for 2011."  The Economist says it's "bigger and better than Wi-Fi." Fortune magazine calls it "rural America's great broadband hope."

TV white-space technology is revolutionizing rural broadband, and Carlson, with our RuralConnect® is the major contender in the TV white-space industry.

Carlson customers, such as the Yurok Tribe of Northern California, are using TV white-space technology to bring broadband where it's never been before. For a more detailed discussion, download our white paper, "Super Wi-Fi: Using TV White Space for Rural Broadband."

What exactly are TV white spaces?

TV white spaces are unused gaps between TV channels in the UHF spectrum. In 2010, the FCC made this high-quality, underutilized spectrum available for unlicensed public use.

At a time when more and more broadband users are crowding the airwaves, 200 MHz of spectrum is great news, especially in rural, underserved areas.

A New Possibility for Rural Broadband-- and Beyond

Since fewer TV stations broadcast in rural areas, TV white-space technology is a highly effective choice for rural communities, especially because UHF signal can penetrate foliage and works well in difficult terrain.

White space is also a viable option for more densely-populated areas, as urban demonstrations have shown.

Interference-Free Operations

RuralConnect®  interacts with spectrum databases for interference-free operation. Carlson has teamed up with database providers Telcordia and Spectrum Bridge to demonstrate how this works. You can see it for yourself in this short video, "Dynamic Spectrum in Action":

How much spectrum is available in your region?

Online resources like Spectrum Bridge's interactive database, Show My White Spaces, can be used to find the available channels in any given area.

This screenshot from Spectrum Bridge's Show My White Space tool shows the

available channels in the vicinity of a recent TVWS demo by Carlson Wireless,

at the FISPA/WISPA Service Provider Summit in Orlando, Florida.

Better Coverage than Wi-Fi

TV white space is a smart choice for wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) or public safety agencies seeking greater broadband capabilities than WiMAX or Wi-Fi can provide.

This breakthrough technology was nicknamed “Super Wi-Fi” because of its superior range and its ability to penetrate obstacles such as trees, buildings and rough terrain. While Wi-Fi has a relatively limited range, and can be blocked by walls and other obstacles, a network utilizing TV white-space technology can cover a greater area than Wi-Fi while requiring less equipment.

Have a look at the path study comparison below:

This diagram, showing a propagation radius of 25 miles, compares the potential

coverage of Wi-Fi (left) and TV white-space (right) signals.
Red areas show the range of best coverage.

 

Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) Performance

Microwave links require line-of-sight (LOS) between the points being connected. In rural areas with many trees or rugged terrain, the tall towers necessary to provide this line-of-sight connection make microwave an expensive and unfeasible solution.

TV white-space technology, on the other hand, provides an effective alternative to microwave because lower-frequency UHF signal can penetrate obstacles and cover uneven ground without requiring additional infrastructure.

Carlson Customers on the Cutting Edge

A number of Carlson customers, including the Yurok Tribe of Northern California, have received experimental licenses to begin installing their TV white-space networks

Yurok Tribal lands, pictured above, are too rugged for microwave

links. TV white-space technology is a valuable tool for rural communities that

need to bring affordable broadband to residents, businesses and public safety agencies.

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Carlson: Leading the Industry

Over the past year, CEO Jim Carlson has become widely known as a white-space technology expert and a featured speaker at events like IWCE, the FISPA/WISPA Service Provider Summit, the Super Wi-Fi Summit, the National Conference for Media Reform and more. He is also a featured participant in industry webinars, such as the Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI) webinar on TV white-space network design and deployment.

Learn More

To learn more about the RuralConnect® and what TV white-space technology can do for your project and your community, contact one of our sales engineers. You can also sign up to download our white paper or technical spec sheets.