Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. and Fujitsu Laboratories of America, Inc. have announced the development of technology that reduces radio interference by analyzing the environment around a femtocell and adjusting its transmissions accordingly.
Often placed in locations where macrocell coverage is limited in some way, such as inside a home or small business, femtocells are small low-power cellular base stations designed to boost wireless coverage, capacity and communication quality. While macrocell base stations are spaced in accordance with strict wireless carrier specifications to prevent interference with other macrocells, placement of femtocells is fairly unregulated. As a result, says the research center, when one femtocell is too close to another femtocell or a macrocell base station, interference can distort communication signals.
According to Fujitsu, the new technology enables the femtocell to detect its surroundings and automatically adjust the timing, transmission power, and transmission frequency band of its communications to reduce interference. Simulations conducted by the researchers reportedly confirmed that, compared to before, the technology approximately doubled communication transmission speeds in cases where there was significant radio wave interference. It was also confirmed that communications became possible with macro devices that previously could not work properly due to severe interference.
Fujitsu plans to proceed with verification testing of the features and functions of their interference control technology, with the aim of actual implementation in fiscal 2013.
