IIT Mandi Develops State-Of-The-Art Tech To Tackle Spectrum Shortages In Future Wireless Communication Applications

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mandi have developed state-of-art solutions to enhance the reusability of radiofrequency spectrum which can overcome shortage and meet the growing demands of data communication in the future wireless communication applications.

The team at IIT Mandi have published their findings in the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Transactions on Consumer Electronics and other IEEE journals. These papers have been authored by Dr. Rahul Shrestha, Assistant Professor (School of Computing and Electrical Engineering – IIT Mandi), and his PhD scholar, Mr. Rohit B Chaurasiya.

“Given the fixed-spectrum allocation policy of many governments around the world, including ours, it becomes important to use the available spectrum intelligently. Cognitive Radio Technology is considered one of the best ways to optimise spectrum use,” said Dr. Rahul Shrestha.

“The idea of Cognitive Radio Technology is that a wireless device such as a cell phone, used by the secondary user (SU) can be fitted with a special sensor that can detect such “spectrum holes” and use them when the main channel is unavailable or crowded.

“This forms the basis of a dynamic-spectrum access policy that can overcome shortages of available spectrum at a given time. The spectrum-hole detecting sensor that is built into the SU’s device is called a Stand-Alone Spectrum Sensor (SSSR),” he said.

In addition, Dr. Shrestha stated that this technology will enable massive deployment of IoT-based networks where numerous connected devices can use spectrum holes for break-less communication. The specific uses of cooperative spectrum-sensing technology in India cannot be understated and will help in establishing broadband services in remote and rural parts of the country.

(PTI)