Artemis Networks

Artemis Networks is a wireless technology company responsible for the software-defined radio technologies pCell and pWave. pCell technology is capable of speeds hundreds of times faster than other technologies under conditions of heavy usage and interference.[1] Its founder and CEO is Steve Perlman, who is known for his work in cloud gaming with OnLive, at Apple Inc. on the technology behind QuickTime and founding WebTV.

Artemis has also alluded to possible applications for their technology outside communication.

History

Artemis was founded in stealth in the early 2000s and grew through the Rearden Companies incubator, founded by Perlman.[2]

Chief scientist Antonio Forenza, along with Perlman, released a white paper in 2011 that described what it called Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output, or DIDO, technology. Following this release and an on-camera presentation from Perlman, debate began about the legitimacy of the technology, due to its perceived violation of the Shannon Limit.[3]

In May 2013, Rearden LLC sought an experimentation license from the FCC. In response to an FCC question, the company disclosed that each experimental transmitter unit would contain up to 100 antennas.[4]

In February 2014 Perlman and Forenza unveiled the company and technology at Columbia University.

Technology

Artemis' pCell technology is able to work around physical barriers that apply to conventional wireless data transmission, such as the Shannon Limit.[5] The basis for the technology is software-defined radio which leverages interference to create individual virtual cells for each wireless user. By tightly co-ordinating the transmissions from each cell transmitter, the effects of interference between cells is cancelled out at each user's location, allowing the deployment of hundreds of times as many cell transmitters over the same area, thereby increasing by the same amount the capacity of the network. This reduces the ratio of users per cell, and inversely increases each user's share of the network capacity. Ultimately, if the network deploys as many cell stations as there are users, then each user effectively has their own cell without the need to share with other users.

Artemis claims that pCell technology is more flexible than conventional celluar wireless technology. Conventional technology can also deploy additional cells to reduce the user-per-cell ratio, but it requires each cell to run at reduced power to avoid interfering with its neighbouring cells. This reduces the service area of each cell to serve only those users nearest to it. On the other hand, adding additional pCells does not require power reductions, and the pCell can contribute bandwidth to users even when they are closer to other pCells. This means that pCells can be more effective than conventional cellular when users are distributed unevenly between the cells. This works best in open areas where there are no obstacles blocking the signals between the user and multiple pCells.

In a demonstration at Columbia University, a demonstration transmitter unit ran off 1 milliwatt of power (equivalent power to Class 3 Bluetooth) and transmitted video simultaneously over a few metres to about 8 devices. Battery power may also be saved on the devices connected to the pCell technology compared to conventional 4G LTE.[6]

The Artemis website shows 3 demonstration videos, the previously described Columbia University one, another at Code Conference with 20 iPads, and a lab demo showing 16 phones sharing 8 cells.

Current cellphones and devices that support LTE will be compatible with pCell networks without replacement of the current radios. Perlman refutes claims that pCell is simply MU-MIMO, saying that pCells are spaced farther apart than LTE MIMO. [7] [8]

References

  1. ↑ Metz, Cade. "This Man Says He Can Speed Cell Data 1,000-Fold. Will Carriers Listen?". Wired. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  2. ↑ Perlman, Steve. "Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output (DIDO) Wireless Technology A New Approach to Multiuser Wireless". Rearden Companies. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  3. ↑ Chirgwin, Richard. "DIDO: snake oil or wireless salvation?". The Register. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Timothy, Bransford. "RE: FCC File No. 0363-EX-PL-2013". FCC. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  5. ↑ Anthony, Sebastian. "Perlman’s pCell: The super-fast future of wireless networking, or too good to be true?". Extreme Tech. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "VIDEO: First Public Demo of pCell Technology at Columbia". Columbia University. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  7. ↑ http://venturebeat.com/2014/02/20/steve-perlman-pcell-is-real-and-it-will-change-the-world-interview/ Steve Perlman: pCell’s wireless tech is real
  8. ↑ http://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/wireless/can-artemis-deliver-5g-service-on-your-4g-phone Can Artemis Deliver 5G Service On Your 4G Phone?

External links