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Not defending phone operators but the problem with unlicensed spectrum is precisely that it's unlicensed. You're power limited and everyone and his uncle messes

Not defending phone operators but the problem with unlicensed spectrum is precisely that it's unlicensed. You're power limited and everyone and his uncle messes up the spectrum.

rayiner 12y ago
The problem with unlicensed spectrum is the same as for anarchist utopia. There's essentially a single rule (maximum power limit, but even that is poorly enforced), but lots of anti-social behaviors are possible even abiding by that rule. There has been some very good work in how to add more structure and rules to unlicensed while keeping its good qualities: http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4111&context=flr; http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=411... http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1542658&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D1542658 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=154265...
- lupin_sansei 12y ago
  You might find the history of unlicensed spectrum interesting http://mises.org/daily/1662 http://mises.org/daily/1662 TLDR: in the 1920s spectrum was treated as a homesteadable property right, which you could use to stop others interfering with you and could trade.
toomuchtodo 12y ago
5G is going to require frequencies so high that you'll need femotcells everywhere [1]. A nice side-effect of this is that most building materials will filter out the signal, so frequency planning/cooperation isn't as necessary as with traditional cellular frequency bands. [1] http://research.ijcaonline.org/volume62/number10/pxc3884787.pdf http://research.ijcaonline.org/volume62/number10/pxc3884787....
woah 12y ago
Is that a problem? My wifi works great on the limited garbage spectrum that it has been allowed to operate on. I think spectrum licensing served an important purpose in the days when everything was analog, but now it's just a way to get a great return on investments in lobbyists.
- zwieback 12y ago
  At the RF level there's still a lot of pain with WiFi. It works okay for what it's meant for but the long-range/low-power stuff they want to do with LTE-direct wouldn't be possible.
- wglb 12y ago
  How does digital change this? It is still subject to interference, noise, and bandwidth limitations.

Not defending phone operators but the problem with unlicensed spectrum is precisely that it's unlicensed. You're power limited and everyone and his uncle messes up the spectrum.

rayiner 12y ago

The problem with unlicensed spectrum is the same as for anarchist utopia. There's essentially a single rule (maximum power limit, but even that is poorly enforced), but lots of anti-social behaviors are possible even abiding by that rule. There has been some very good work in how to add more structure and rules to unlicensed while keeping its good qualities: http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4111&context=flr; http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=411... http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1542658&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D1542658 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=154265...

lupin_sansei 12y ago
You might find the history of unlicensed spectrum interesting http://mises.org/daily/1662 http://mises.org/daily/1662 TLDR: in the 1920s spectrum was treated as a homesteadable property right, which you could use to stop others interfering with you and could trade.

toomuchtodo 12y ago

5G is going to require frequencies so high that you'll need femotcells everywhere [1]. A nice side-effect of this is that most building materials will filter out the signal, so frequency planning/cooperation isn't as necessary as with traditional cellular frequency bands. [1] http://research.ijcaonline.org/volume62/number10/pxc3884787.pdf http://research.ijcaonline.org/volume62/number10/pxc3884787....

woah 12y ago

Is that a problem? My wifi works great on the limited garbage spectrum that it has been allowed to operate on. I think spectrum licensing served an important purpose in the days when everything was analog, but now it's just a way to get a great return on investments in lobbyists.

zwieback 12y ago
At the RF level there's still a lot of pain with WiFi. It works okay for what it's meant for but the long-range/low-power stuff they want to do with LTE-direct wouldn't be possible.
wglb 12y ago
How does digital change this? It is still subject to interference, noise, and bandwidth limitations.