Researchers send and receive data on the same frequency

Researchers at Columbia University have managed to send data on the same frequency as they receive. Until now that was not possible; telephones and cell towers, for example, each use their own frequency to transmit.

The findings of researcher Harish Krishnaswamy’s team would double the available frequency space in one go, because, for example, telephones and other mobile devices can use the same frequency to transmit as they do to receive data. That reports the Times of India.

Exactly how Krishnaswamy and his team members managed to use the same frequency space for transmitting and receiving is not entirely clear. Krishnaswamy does say that the biggest challenge has been filtering out the interference from the transmitter in order to receive signals; his team would have succeeded.

The American research team has created a proof-of-concept of an antenna that can transmit and receive on the same frequency. The technique could come in handy in future generations of mobile networks, as well as a new version of Wi-Fi.