Japan's NICT parades Android-based tablet for TV white space

Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) announced a portable tablet designed for use over 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi spectrum and TV white space (TVWS) bands in the 470-710 MHz range.

NICT Android tablet

NICT's tablet (Source: Kyodo News)

The tablet, which uses Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android OS, is based on an off-the-shelf terminal but has a NICT-developed frequency converter for using TVWS spectrum. The institute said it will use the device in evaluating TVWS propagation characteristics.

"Radio communication in both TV and 2.4 GHz bands is available with an original WLAN system (IEEE802.11b/g) and Internet access is also possible through the white-space WLAN base station developed by NICT," said the institute.

NICT said the tablet is designed to make inquiries regarding available TVWS frequencies from NICT's TVWS database. A network manager could direct the tablet to select the best spectrum band according to data traffic or other factors, said NICT.

NICT noted it is "difficult to miniaturize components and circuits for portable devices" due to TVWS' lower operational frequency vs. existing Wi-Fi or cellular bands and its relatively wide frequency range of 470-710 MHz.

For more:
- see this NICT release

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