A new communications tool that “whispers” on busy radio channels could enable broadband Internet services for on-the-go wireless devices or hook-up homes that cannot yet get fast Web access.
xMax, from xG Technologies, is a very quiet radio system that uses radio channels already filled up with noisy pager or TV signals. The system can emit signals that are too weak to be picked up by normal antennas, but that can be “heard” by special aerials which know where to “listen”, thus enabling dual usage of the same scarce radio spectrum.
The technology could interest a telecoms or Internet operator with no radio spectrum because it can begin a wireless broadband service with very few base stations and add more stations as demand rises. It is also appealing for rural areas which operators find too costly to cover with the current 3G cellphone networks which need base stations every few miles.
The first xMax network is currently being built in Miami and Fort Lauderdale where one base station can deliver broadband Internet over a 40 square mile area.