MegaMIMO: A Faster Wireless System

Recent years have seen a lot of work in moving distributed MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output), which is a method for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple transmit and receive antennas to exploit multipath propagation, from theory to practice. While this prior work demonstrates the feasibility of synchronizing multiple transmitters in time, frequency, and phase, none of them deliver a full-fledged PHY capable of supporting distributed MIMO in real-time.In a traditional wireless network that is congested, two access points (APs) may transmit at the same time and frequency, causing interference. The APs can avoid this by taking turns, but this transmits packets less often and leads to a slower data rate. MIT researchers introduce MegaMIMO, a new wireless system that is three times faster and has twice the range. MegaMIMO enables multiple APs to transmit at the same time and frequency without interference, allowing APs to send data quickly even in congested networks. MegaMIMO continually adapts to changing channel conditions, such as a person walking by.