World’s first tablet for communication in TV bands is ready, said the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) of Japan.
The tablet enables IEEE802.11-based radio communication in TV bands (470-710 MHz). The tablet utilizes a WLAN system for radio communication in TV bands with an inquiry in the white-space database developed by NICT.
The original 2.4 GHz band of a WLAN system is also available and tablet terminal automatically selects the radio communication band according to data traffic, etc. through control by the network manager.
This tablet can display the white-space availability of each channel and the terminal location on a map by acquiring information on primary users (TV broadcasters) from the white-space database.
It has the power control function for the different limitation of output power according to white-space status such as a location and time.
Though future TV white-space utilization by devices will contribute to the effective use of frequency resources, it is difficult to miniaturize components and circuits for portable devices due to its lower operational frequency than existing WiFi or cellular bands.
In addition, technology to avoid interference with TV broadcasts is necessary to be implemented in portable devices. Propagation characteristic evaluation supposing practical operation is required for the feasibility study on TV white-space utilization.
