The digital revolution has removed the need for unoccupied gaps in the TV spectrum and opened white spaces for use by personal electronic devices, according to new research from the University of Kansas Information and Telecommunications Technology Center in Lawrence, KS.
The center, under the direction of Joseph Evans, the Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Kansas, recently researched the use of unlicensed devices using white space that “showed the potential of such technology,” according to a university press release.
As part of the study, the team built the “KU (University of Kansas) Unlicensed Device Emulator and Testbed,” which mimicked the effects of unlicensed devices on digital television receivers.
“We were testing against real TV signals that you’d expect a normal user to see,” the release quotes Evans as saying. “We could generate digital TV signals, then crank in an amount of power from the prototype of what a white space transmitter would look like — and we’d crank more power until the digital TV signal would fall over.”
According to university researchers, the operation of unlicensed devices in the TV band could be accomplished with no significant impact upon DTV receivers in the area.
Last year, Evans presented evidence to the FCC citing the center’s work to show that white space devices do not create interference for TV viewers when operated under appropriate rules.
For more information, visit http://www.news.ku.edu/2008/july/2/whitespace.shtml.
