The most desirable wireless frequencies will soon be completely allocated. These prime frequencies, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand MHz, offer high bandwidth, strong building penetration, and accommodate small antennas. The problem is that the number of these channels is finite. Similar to real estate, once the best spots are taken, expansion continues into less ideal areas.

Finding more bandwidth means moving up or down the electromagnetic spectrum, which presents challenges. Lower frequencies, with longer wavelengths, require proportionally larger channels for equivalent carrying capacity. A 1 MHz channel at 10 GHz is small; at 10 MHz, it’s enormous, and at 1 MHz, it would monopolize the band.

One solution is dividing transmissions into numerous smaller channels, the principle behind OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing). OFDM distributes carriers across the spectrum, each carrying a portion of the data. These fragments are reassembled at the receiving end, creating a continuous transmission.

BPL (Broadband over Power Line) utilizes OFDM, employing shortwave frequencies with some omissions to prevent interference. The use of many small channels instead of one large one makes data loss minimal and easily recoverable. This method also allows wireless service within a band lacking large open frequency blocks.

While BPL faces competition from more cost-effective wired and wireless alternatives, OFDM is used in WiMAX, LTE, WiFi, and digital radio. This suggests potential for a wireless equivalent of BPL, using available lower frequencies not traditionally considered for broadband.

Higher frequencies present a different obstacle: line-of-sight transmission. The Ku band (12-18 GHz), used by satellites, offers high capacity but poor obstacle penetration. Even leaves or heavy rain can disrupt the signal. Wireless communication in the Super and Extremely High Frequency bands relies on outdoor, line-of-sight antennas.

While this represents the current state, limitations may be overcome. A potential solution involves numerous low-power cells flooding an area, guaranteeing signal reception regardless of a mobile antenna’s location. This concept is already being implemented in mesh networks of WiFi radios. Each hotspot communicates with nearby radios, sharing traffic and eliminating the need for backhaul connections to a central controller.

Mesh networks, with low-power transmissions and short-range coverage, have potential in even higher frequencies. Above 300 GHz, electromagnetic waves transition into infrared light, the carrier in fiber optic cables. Free space optical transmission uses infrared beams for point-to-point communication, requiring a direct line of sight. A mesh network of emitters and receivers could create a high-capacity network with decent coverage.

In Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV, we’ve seen how wireless broadband has a near insatiable need for bandwidth and how that may be satisfied by reassignment of desirable channels and more efficient use of underutilized frequencies up and down the electromagnetic spectrum. In the fifth and final part of this series on the next decade of bandwidth, we’ll take a look at wired connections that include both copper and fiber to see what else is in store for business bandwidth.

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