Future phone networks to use mini base stations

摘要

Future mobile phone networks are set to use intelligent miniature base stations to manage vast amounts of data transfer without requirement for central planning. Phone companies and academics are researching how to cope with the huge demands on radio bandwidth that will come with the next generation of mobile technology, dubbed 4G. Although not expected in the UK for another few years, internet-enabled devices that use the new standards will receive data at up to 50 times the rate of current 3G smartphones. Researchers at York University are part of a €4.7m (￡3.9m) EU-funded industry project known as BuNGee (Beyond Next Generation Mobile Broadband) that is developing network infrastructure to support these new devices.