http://www.masternewmedia.org/broadband/broadband_technologies/wireless/xMax_radio_based_wireless_broadband_20050707.htm
A new wireless communications technology that symbiotically rides on existing public broadcast radio frequency waves could revolutionize the way we could connect to the Internet or provide broadband access to remote areas that are too expensive to be served by cable or present-day data-transmission technologies.
This latest innovation in broadband communications, is a "discrete" radio-frequency-based data transmission system that leverages traditional television, radio and pager systems bands without ever interfering with them.
The new system effectively extends what was thought possible until now, extending our ability to deliver data at lower cost and over greater distances than existing technologies.
The new technology may also come to be appreciated for its non-harmful effects on humans. The new radio-based approach may in fact spare us quite a few health risks (nobody ever talks about this side of things) which are instead a constant factor when we deal with today's popular very high-frequency transmission bands, like the ones used by mobile phones and other wireless transmission systems.
Overall, the advantages offered are then not only the fact that the public radio spectrum can be stretched in its capacity while not requiring the use of additional frequencies, but also the fact that at the lower frequency bands in which this new technology works data can travel much farther while having greater ease to pass through buildings walls and physical barriers than other existing competing wireless technologies.
Long range and high-speed are two of the key characteristics of xMax, a cutting edge radio-waves-based broadband solution which appears to be even better than Flash-OFDM, an alternative broadband system approach for remote and rural areas.
As a wireless data distribution system, xMax promises a reach of over 40-square miles while being able to serve between a minimum of a few hundred users to a theoretical maximum of a thousand or more.
xMax leverages a unique approach to data distribution via radio frequencies by embedding a very weak signal within the selected radio carrier band. The signal used is so weak that it cannot be easily picked-up by traditional radio antennas.
By using unique receiving units equipped with special filters, xMax-enabled devices can detect and receive the weak radio signal embedded in the radio wave without ever interfering or disturbing the main carrier.
Though prestigious academics like Princeton University Professor Schwartz have declared xMax not a very efficient way to send data over the airwaves, they also concluded that the results that can be achieved are indeed effective.
Obviously such a technology could represent a boon to many Internet service providers and telecom operators who would be able to offer and utilize this cost-effective technology to serve wireless broadband to rural and geographically remote areas which other competing operators would find too costly to cover.
Present third-generation mobile phone networks need base-stations to relay the signals every few miles. With xMax that can be significantly improved as the new technology offers a 400 to 500 percent improvement in range over more traditional technologies.
With WiMax and Flash OFDM, which need dedicated radio frequency bands, if you they are set to operate at frequency ranges above 1GHz, the signal used has no comparable effectiveness in penetrating physical obstacles and building walls as well as being able to have reach greater than a few miles.
XG Technology, the Florida-based company behind this revolutionary invention company behind xMax, has already been talking to multiple chip makers to make this new technology become a market reality. According to the company, xMax-enabled radio chips should cost $5-$6 when built in large quantities while base stations will be around $350,000.
Stay tuned.
