Full-Duplex Wireless Technology Now a Reality - Rice University

By the time we have 4.5G or 5G networks in a few years from now, every wireless company in the world would be able to provide double throughput on their networks without adding a single cell tower. Researchers at Rice University are bringing the full-duplex communication possibility to reality. The team has also produced result ten times stronger than any previous published result.



The "full-duplex" technology developed by Rice team allows wireless devices like phones and tablets to communicate in two ways on the same frequency. Ashutosh Sabharwal, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University mentioned that their solution requires minimum hardware both for the devices and the networks which is why their concept has attracted attention of every wireless company in the world.

To explain the concept of how this full-duplex technology works, Sabharwal used the analogy of two persons standing far apart inside an arena. when both of them shout at each other, none of them understands what the other person had spoken. The reason is the shouter hears himself loud enough to listen from the other person. For this reason today's wireless technology uses two different frequencies to send and listen.



The Rice team came up with a simple solution for this problem by deploying an extra antenna and some computing tricks. They sent two signals that cancel each other at the receiving end. The reference in the shouting analogy is that the person shouting cannot hear himself but can only hear the other person. They used the technology MIMO (Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output) present in today's devices to their advantage to make the "full-duplex" concept possible.

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