Nokia has partnered with Artemis Networks to develop a next-generation LTE technology that is poised to deliver as much as 50 times the power than what is presently available in 4G LTE networks.
The new solution, which the partnership calls pCell technology, taps interference in order to combine radio signals that will create tiny personal cells in mobile devices, according to Slash Gear. The process will supposedly eliminate performance degradation, allowing users to enjoy a significantly faster and powerful network. Some observers believe that the achievement of such a feat is analogous to delivering 5G connectivity to 4G infrastructure today.
Nokia and Artemis have already successfully tested pCell tech outside a lab environment, and they are now working to perform a proof-of-concept test in an indoor stadium, according to Slash Gear. The test will determine how the technology will fare amid a high concentration of mobile devices, which strains wireless networks. This has been the problem of existing network technology. "It's the physics that breaks it...you just run out of gas," Lowell McAdam, CEO and chairman at Verizon, said in a IT Wire report.
In pCell tech, however, the network's speed will rely on congestion as opposed to being hampered by it. The technology will use that interference to deliver data to devices. "I have seen the demo ... in a very controlled environment, but it seems to work," Hossein Moiin, networks chief technology officer at Nokia, said in a Re/Code report. "What we're doing next is demonstrating that it does work. I'm not 100 percent sold, but I'm a believer."
