Microsoft, Harvard researchers propose 'WhiteFi' network for UHF white spaces

Researchers from Microsoft and Harvard University have presented a detailed design and implementation of a wireless data network for use in unused portions of the UHF spectrum, commonly referred to as white spaces. Laying out their proposal in a paper presented at the SIGCOMM 2009 Aug. 17-21 in Barcelona, Spain, the authors acknowledge the requirement the Federal Communications Commission placed upon wireless white space devices not to interfere with incumbent spectrum users, including TV stations and wireless mics, when authorizing their use in November 2008. In "White Space Networking with Wi-Fi like Connectivity," the authors say they have identified the challenges of building a UHF white space wireless network, dubbed a "WhiteFi" network, and have presented ways to surmount those challenges, including new techniques, algorithms and protocols "backed up by extensive evaluation over a prototype network" and simulations.