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A network-boosting technology that can overcome Wi-Fi bandwidth constraints that stem from limited spectrum availability could triple the speed of Wi-Fi and double its range, according to a team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The new system, called MegaMIMO 2.0, allows multiple independent transmitters to communicate data on the same piece of spectrum to multiple independent receivers without interfering with each other.
A more efficient technology could benefit network operators as demand for mobile data skyrockets. Mobile data traffic in North America is expected to grow at a 42% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2015 to 2020, from 557,237 terabytes per month to more than 3 million terabytes per month, according to Cisco. This is creating a massive strain on wireless carriers.
Mobile carriers may alleviate this strain by offloading to Wi-Fi or small-cells networks. Mobile data offload is expected to account for 55% of total mobile data traffic by 2020, up from 51% in 2015, according to Cisco. Specifically, the share of data offload from smartphone mobile traffic to Wi-Fi networks will be about 56% in 2020, and 71% for tablet mobile traffic.
Source: Business Insider
