In November of 2008, the FCC (News - Alert) voted to create a new kind of wireless broadband – or at least, a new delivery method for it. After several years of contentious discussions with television broadcasters on one side and proponents of a new kind of Super WiFi (News - Alert) on the other, the FCC voted 5-0 to approve the unlicensed use of television “white space” – unused spectrum allocated for television – for use by wireless broadband solutions and services providers.

The marketplace is now beginning to see the fruits of that decision.

Wireless broadband solutions provider Adaptrum, which develops devices and services for this TV whitespace, demonstrated its new radio system at the Cambridge TV Whitespace Trial launch event in Cambridge, England on June 29, 2011.

San Jose, California-based Adaptrum's cognitive radio technology uses any available spectrum below 1 GHz with a flexible architecture to support different types of services and applications, while at the same time meeting stringent interference requirements established by the FCC. During the course of the demonstration, Adaptrum established a TV whitespace broadband connection under extraordinarily challenging propagation conditions and was able to deliver consistent high-throughput data connectivity where other wireless technologies like WiFi fell short.

During the demonstration, the Adaptrum whitespace system provided the broadband IP connectivity allowing a client-side Microsoft (News - Alert) XBOX to stream live HD videos from the Internet. Also as part of the demo, a live XBOX/Kinect video chat was established between two XBOX/Kinect units connected through the same TV whitespace connection. These applications were demonstrated under a highly challenging radio propagation environment with more than 120 dB link loss through buildings, foliage, walls, furniture, people etc. and with severe multipath effects. To demonstrate the complete TV whitespace system, the Adaptrum radio system was also interacting with the Microsoft UK TV whitespace database for the updated channel list at Cambridge.

“We are very pleased that Adaptrum agreed to provide its TV white space system for the Cambridge TV White Spaces Trial,” said Paul Garnett, Director of Standards and Interoperability for Microsoft. “In April, this same system was successfully demonstrated at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. We look forward to working with Adaptrum in deploying this exciting new technology and demonstrating real-world uses cases and applications using TV white space," said Garnett.

Adaptrum, for its part, was pleased to be able to be able to find such a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the scope of its solution.

“We are excited to provide our whitespace solution for the Cambridge trial. Such a trial is exactly what we need to test drive this new technology,” said Haiyun Tang, CEO of Adaptrum. “Today, as more people are using their wireless devices, we see an increasing gap between the demand and supply sides of wireless bandwidth. Unlicensed technology will play the key role in closing this gap, as carriers lack the incentive to invest in new infrastructures if they cannot charge more than what they have already been charging. Just as WiFi has been offloading the majority of wireless data traffic today, TV whitespace technology with its superior reach and performance will provide wireless bandwidth where WiFi cannot. Unlicensed and lightly licensed spectrum lowers the barrier of entry and encourages innovation on technology, deployment and new business model which may well be the real answer to our mobile broadband problem. We are pleased to see the world's leading technology companies are standing solidly behind this technology and helping raise the public awareness about TV whitespace so collectively we can help realize the true potential of the public airwave,” said Tang.

Learn more about Super WiFi in TV whitespace at TMC's (News - Alert) upcoming Super WiFi Summit, which will be collocated with TMC’s ITEXPO on September 13 to 15 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. For more information or to register, visit http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/super-wifi/2011/west/.