I would rather not think about how many bits of data are passing through my body at this moment, as multiple electronics around me broadcast and receive information wirelessly. Though there is plenty of spectrum for all of these devices to communicate, often they will populate a limited range of channels, which causes congestion. Researchers at the University at Buffalo have received a four-year, $2.7 million grant from the Air Force to develop a new radio system to address this problem.
According to agencies responsible for monitoring the use of the air waves across the planet, even though large a large range of radio frequencies are available for wireless devices, devices are often crowded into a few bands. This would be akin to rush-hour traffic driving exclusively in one lane, causing gridlock, despite the other being lanes empty. The researchers plan is develop cognitive radios that have the ability to identify unused frequencies and shift communication to them as needed. Potentially this could lead to wireless communication an order of magnitude faster than what is currently available.
As the grant has only recently been awarded, it will take some time before the algorithms to model, simulate, and optimize the system are developed. The researchers already have partners in ANDRO Computational Solutions for testing the system, when the time comes.
Source: University at Buffalo