M6L4: Recently introduced Wireless technologies

Miscellaneous

White-Fi

Whitespace are essentially unused parts of the spectrum. If you look at this table, you will find that there are many unallocated bandwidths that can be used for internet communication. White-Fi project was launched by Microsoft to provide free broadband using these whitespaces (Every country has its own method of frequency allocation and therefore Whitespace may vary from one country to other).

Frequency allocation in India
0 - 87.5 MHz	Marine and Aeronautical navigation, short and medium wave radio, amateur (ham) radio and cordless phones.
87.5 - 108 MHz	FM radio broadcasts
109 - 173 MHz	Satellite communication, aeronautical navigation and outdoor broadcast vans
174 -230 MHz	not allocated
230 - 450 MHz	Satellite communication, aeronautical navigation and outdoor broadcast vans
450 - 585 MHz	Not allocated.
585 - 698 MHz	TV broadcast
698 - 806 MHz	not allocated.
806 - 960 MHz	GSM and CDMA mobile services
960 -1710 MHz	Aeronautical and space communication
1710 - 1930 MHz	GSM mobile services
1930 - 2010 MHz	Defense forces
2010 - 2025 MHz	Not allocated
2025 - 2110 MHz	Satellite and space communications
2110 - 2170 MHz	Not allocated
2170 - 2300 MHz	Satellite and space communications
2300 - 2400 MHz	Not allocated
2400 - 2483.5 MHz	Used for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth short range services
2483.5 - 3300 MHz	Space communications
3300 - 3600 MHz	not allocated.
3600 - 10000 MHz	Space research, radio navigation
10000 - above MHz	Satellite downlink for broadcast and DTH services

In United States, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning to use whitespaces lower than 2.4 GHz for the creation of longer-distance wireless Internet access. They call it Super Wi-Fi

Project Loon

This project was launched by Google to beam broadband from parachutes. This has not taken of yet as expected.

Skybender and Aquila

These are drones launched by Google and Facebook to beam internet from the skies.

Li-Fi

Recently, a new technology was invented by a team of researchers in Shanghai. They intend to use Light to carry data than microwaves. This method promises higher internet speeds, better privacy and flexibility.

Li-Fi is an optical wireless data communications medium which uses visible light between 400 and 800 THz (780–375 nm) to transmit binary data in the form of light pulses. It works by switching the current to the LEDs off and on at a very high rate, too quick to be noticed by the human eye. The light waves cannot penetrate walls which makes a much shorter range, though more secure from hacking. Additionally, while Li-Fi would be a lot cheaper and offer faster speeds than Wi-Fi, it also comes with a downside of posing high installation costs.

However, Li-Fi also offer the advantage of being useful in electromagnetic sensitive areas such as in aircraft cabins, hospitals and nuclear power plants without causing electromagnetic interference. It promises speeds more than 200 Gbps.