European researchers working on a project funded under the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) strand of the European Union’s Sixth Framework Programme have developed ORACLE (Opportunistic Radio Communications in unlicensed Environments) that would make handsets actively manage how and when they access a network. This pioneering approach promises to minimize bandwidth saturation and possible interference in both licensed and unlicensed bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, including the ISM bands, the kind used by WiFi networks and RFID chips. Mobile operators who have paid millions for spectrum licenses have a decided interest in using their limited bandwidth in the most efficient manner possible. Careful management of their allotted spectrum is one approach, but ORACLE researchers have taken another tack. An ORACLE mobile handset seeks out available bandwidth and puts it to use in the best possible way. Sometimes, the approach takes operators and traditional mobile networks (centered on static base stations that relay signals) out of the equation. The core technology relies on highly sensitive sensors in the handset that monitor radio spectrum usage by other devices and base stations in their immediate vicinity and software that opportunistically decides when and what bandwidth to use when it becomes available. The technology could, for example, allow handsets to create ad hoc networks with other mobile devices in their immediate vicinity to share data, thus reducing the amount of traffic passing through base stations and the wider mobile network.Find more information on the research on the ICT Results website.
Bypassing Interference Opportunistically
