Researchers unveil plan to revolutionize Wi-Fi with new 3D design

For many people around the world home internet connection speeds are a problem, but scientists now believe they can solve this issue and it all has to do with a new chip design.

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It's likely that people have put together that Wi-Fi connections slow down when there is more devices connected to that specific network, and this same principle applies for even larger networks such as ones provided by cell towers. An example of this is terrible connection speeds, or a lack of connection at sporting events. These rudimentarily called wireless traffic jams, but now researchers have an idea of solving it.

Typical Wi-Fi networks are powered by a "planar" processor, which produces signals at a flat or two-dimensional range. Due to these signals being emitted in a flat range there is a limited number of frequencies, or connections that can pair with the network at any given moment. To solve this researchers have proposed creating a 3D Wi-Fi chip that would enable the hardware to handle multiple frequencies at the same time, significantly reducing the congestion on the network, thus increasing speed.

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Roozbeh Tabrizian, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Florida, whose team created the new processors that are currently undergoing testing, explained an easy way to think about the solution to this issue.

"A city's infrastructure can only handle a certain level of traffic, and if you keep increasing the volume of cars, you have a problem," Tabrizian said in a press release. "We're starting to reach the maximum amount of data we can move efficiently. The planar structure of processors is no longer practical as they limit us to a very limited span of frequencies."

Picture cars on the road in a city and then steadily increase the volume of cars until there are almost no spaces left. That is where the current state of Wi-Fi hardware is at - almost completely full of frequencies (cars). Now, picture the city with roads both above and below the surface. The additional roads enable cars to move much more freely throughout the city, reducing overall congestion and reducing the time it takes for each car to get from one location to another.

The new research was published in Nature Electronics and if proven to be effective would certainly be a breakthrough in Wi-Fi technology, but first they must be tested and then manufactured at scale. There is also the issue of compatibility, and if these new Wi-Fi 3D chips aren't compatible with previous-generation connections then it could be quite some time before we see them come to market.

Regardless of how soon this new technology is released, one thing is for certain, planar Wi-Fi chips are on the way out, and a new design is on the horizon to accommodate for a world that's exponentially growing in the number of devices that require a Wi-Fi connection.