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> This is not a new idea -- phased array radars do essentially the same thing -- but it's a new application of the mathematical methods[...] Yes, it's called p

> This is not a new idea -- phased array radars do essentially the same thing -- but it's a new application of the mathematical methods[...] Yes, it's called pre-coding, every modern wireless system does it. Doing it across wireless stations is distributed beamforming which Perleman did not invent.

lutusp 13y ago
> Yes, it's called pre-coding, every modern wireless system does it. Present cell systems don't adjust phase to maximize reception quality in a coordinated way for each of several transmitting antennas, for each packet, for each participating device. That's new. > Doing it across wireless stations is distributed beamforming which Perleman did not invent. That's certainly true -- phased array radars have been doing this for decades. But Perlman should be able to get a patent anyway, based on the combination of ideas this scheme represents. Multiple, physically separate antennas, the use of a data center to compute solutions on the fly to accommodate multiple antennas and different devices with different locations, that's new.
- foobarqux 13y ago
  > Present cell systems don't adjust phase to maximize reception quality in a coordinated way for each of several transmitting antennas, for each packet, for each participating device. That's new. You are just describing MIMO pre-coding which has existed for more than 20 years. I don't see what is patentable: Distributed beamforming necessarily requires physically dispersed antennas. Adding a data center doesn't seem patentable. But I don't know anything about patents nor do I care that much.
  - lutusp 13y ago
    > I don't see what is patentable ... Being a critic of software patents myself, and given how much this idea relies on software and mathematics (mathematics is definitely unpatentable), I agree that it's an issue. I suspect that the entire method is patentable even though each element taken separately isn't.
    - darkmighty 13y ago
      Yea the novelty is essentially that he's (allegedly) managed to make MIMO work with "non-local" antennas, which is really tricky in practice due to the sub-nanosecond phase synchronization required.
      - foobarqux 13y ago
        "non-local" MIMO is distributed beamforming which he didn't invent.
sp332 13y ago
Can current beamforming systems send multiple signals to different devices at once?
- lutusp 13y ago
  Yes. The only reason I can say that is because current military phased-array radars do it. I would quibble with "at once", but they can certainly accommodate multiple targets, in series, in a short time span.
- foobarqux 13y ago
  It's called multiple access and it doesn't really have to do with beamforming: There are many multiple access systems that do not rely on time division, CDMA being a prominent example.

lutusp 13y ago

> Yes, it's called pre-coding, every modern wireless system does it. Present cell systems don't adjust phase to maximize reception quality in a coordinated way for each of several transmitting antennas, for each packet, for each participating device. That's new. > Doing it across wireless stations is distributed beamforming which Perleman did not invent. That's certainly true -- phased array radars have been doing this for decades. But Perlman should be able to get a patent anyway, based on the combination of ideas this scheme represents. Multiple, physically separate antennas, the use of a data center to compute solutions on the fly to accommodate multiple antennas and different devices with different locations, that's new.

foobarqux 13y ago
> Present cell systems don't adjust phase to maximize reception quality in a coordinated way for each of several transmitting antennas, for each packet, for each participating device. That's new. You are just describing MIMO pre-coding which has existed for more than 20 years. I don't see what is patentable: Distributed beamforming necessarily requires physically dispersed antennas. Adding a data center doesn't seem patentable. But I don't know anything about patents nor do I care that much.
- lutusp 13y ago
  > I don't see what is patentable ... Being a critic of software patents myself, and given how much this idea relies on software and mathematics (mathematics is definitely unpatentable), I agree that it's an issue. I suspect that the entire method is patentable even though each element taken separately isn't.
  - darkmighty 13y ago
    Yea the novelty is essentially that he's (allegedly) managed to make MIMO work with "non-local" antennas, which is really tricky in practice due to the sub-nanosecond phase synchronization required.
    - foobarqux 13y ago
      "non-local" MIMO is distributed beamforming which he didn't invent.

sp332 13y ago

Can current beamforming systems send multiple signals to different devices at once?

lutusp 13y ago
Yes. The only reason I can say that is because current military phased-array radars do it. I would quibble with "at once", but they can certainly accommodate multiple targets, in series, in a short time span.
foobarqux 13y ago
It's called multiple access and it doesn't really have to do with beamforming: There are many multiple access systems that do not rely on time division, CDMA being a prominent example.