Optimizing the 21st century radio network
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CMU-SV Professor Carlee Joe-Wong is interested in how to create networks that can stand up to this high traffic. Using models of pricing and economic incentive, Joe-Wong is researching how to get users to shift their cellular usage from one interface to another.
“If users experience a lack of service on their cellular networks, they will switch over from the cellular radio to the wi-fi radio, thereby decongesting the cellular network. Now imagine that principle being extended to Bluetooth or Femtocell or other radio technologies being developed,” says Joe-Wong.
In this model, users have to experience disruption before manually switching over to a different radio. But Joe-Wong envisions a network where users switch seamlessly between radios so that network congestion can be completely eliminated, and everything flows smoothly with no dip in coverage. She hopes to achieve this through monetary incentive by offering users discounts to switch between radios at high-traffic times.
One of the difficulties is that these networks are owned by different companies, so you can’t dictate what price you're going to charge at what time. But certain providers are starting to pool their networks together: Google has an
“Our research looks at the efficiency and the economics of that,” says Joe-Wong. “How much does Google have to pay these providers in order to get them to like
When it comes to cellular networks, overloads can be an inconvenience and lead to customer dissatisfaction. But when it comes to smart cities technologies such as smart streetlights that regulate traffic, a downed network can be a matter of life or death. Large-scale elimination of network congestion will go a long way toward providing communities with the network reliability necessary to ensure public safety.