Artemis Networks
Software-defined radio creating individual virtual cells for each user.
Artemis Networks develops the software-defined radio technologies pCell and pWave. The company states that pCell can achieve speeds hundreds of times greater than competing technologies in environments with heavy usage and interference. Steve Perlman is the founder and CEO.
The company was established in the early 2000s and operated in stealth mode through the Rearden incubator, also founded by Perlman. In 2011, Perlman and chief scientist Antonio Forenza published a white paper promoting Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output technology. After the paper and a filmed presentation, debate emerged over the technology’s validity, as critics argued it violated the noisy-channel coding theorem’s Shannon limit. In May 2013, Rearden LLC applied for an FCC experimentation license and disclosed that each experimental transmitter unit would contain up to 100 antennas. Perlman and Forenza promoted the technology at Columbia University in February 2014. The technology was named pCell in 2015.
Artemis claims pCell can circumvent physical barriers that limit conventional wireless transmission. It uses software-defined radio to turn interference into individual virtual cell sites for each user. By coordinating transmissions from multiple cell transmitters, interference between cells cancels out at each user’s location, allowing hundreds of times more transmitters in the same area. This lowers the user-to-cell ratio and increases each user’s share of network capacity. If the network deploys as many cell stations as users, each user effectively gets a private cell without sharing.
Artemis says pCell is more flexible than conventional cellular technology. Adding conventional cells requires reducing each cell’s power to avoid interference, limiting service to nearby users. Adding pCells does not require power reduction, and a pCell can contribute bandwidth to users even when they are closer to other pCells. This makes pCells more effective when users are unevenly distributed, especially in open areas without obstacles blocking signals between users and multiple pCells.
At a Columbia University demonstration, a transmitter unit running on 1 milliwatt of power—equivalent to Class 3 Bluetooth—transmitted video simultaneously over a few meters to about eight devices. Devices connected to pCell may also save battery power compared to conventional 4G LTE.
Quick Facts
- Industry
- Wireless
- Predecessor
- <!-- or
- Products
- pCell, pWave
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Artemis was founded in the early 2000s, operating in stealth mode through the Rearden incubator, founded by Perlman. Chief scientist Antonio Forenza and Perlman released a white paper in 2011 promoting what it called Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output technology. Following the white paper and an on-camera presentation, debate arose regarding the legitimacy of the technology, due to its perceived violation of the noisy-channel coding theorem's “Shannon limit”. In May 2013, Rearden LLC sought an experimentation license from the FCC, disclosing that each experimental transmitter unit would contain up to 100 antennas. In February 2014 Perlman and Forenza promoted the company and technology at Columbia University. In 2015, the technology was called pCell.
Artemis says pCell technology is able to work around physical barriers that apply to conventional wireless data transmission. The basis is software-defined radio which uses interference to create individual virtual cell sites for each wireless user. By tightly coordinating transmissions from each cell transmitter, the effects of interference between cells is canceled out at each user's location, allowing deployment of hundreds of times as many cell transmitters over the same area. This reduces the ratio of users per cell, and inversely increases each user's share of network capacity. Artemis says that pCell technology is more flexible than conventional cellular wireless technology, and that adding additional pCells does not require power reductions. In a demonstration at Columbia University, a transmitter unit ran off 1 milliwatt of power and transmitted video simultaneously over a few metres to about 8 devices. Battery power may also be saved on devices connected to pCell compared to conventional 4G LTE.
Artemis says cellphones and devices that support LTE could be compatible with pCell networks without replacement of the radios. Perlman refutes claims that pCell is simply MU-MIMO, saying that pCells are spaced farther apart than LTE MIMO. In February 2024, Artemis Networks partnered with Boldyn Networks to do a pCell demonstration in Times Square, delivering 10 times the amount of data compared to the fastest 5G.
Reader's Guide
The significance of Artemis Networks lies in its claim to circumvent the conventional trade-offs of cellular wireless capacity. By using software-defined radio to create individual virtual cells for each user, pCell technology proposes a method to increase network capacity without the power-reduction penalties that limit conventional cell densification. This approach generated substantial debate after its 2011 white paper, as critics argued it appeared to violate the Shannon limit of the noisy-channel coding theorem. The company's demonstrations, including a Columbia University test with 1 milliwatt of power serving eight devices, and a 2024 Times Square demonstration with Boldyn Networks delivering ten times the data of the fastest 5G, have provided tangible evidence of its capabilities under specific conditions. However, the technology's effectiveness is noted to work best in open areas without obstacles. Its legacy is that of a controversial but potentially paradigm-shifting approach to wireless data transmission, one that challenges established theoretical boundaries while offering a path to dramatically higher per-user bandwidth in dense environments. The company's assertion that existing LTE devices could be compatible without radio replacement further underscores its disruptive potential.
Did You Know?
- In May 2013, Rearden LLC sought an FCC experimentation license and disclosed each transmitter would contain up to 100 antennas.
- A demonstration at Columbia University used 1 milliwatt of power to transmit video to about 8 devices.
- In February 2024, a pCell demonstration in Times Square delivered 10 times the data of the fastest 5G.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Artemis Networks?
Artemis Networks is a company that builds software-defined radio platforms, most notably pCell and pWave, which are designed to spin up a dedicated virtual cell for every individual subscriber rather than having everyone share one broadcast cell.
Who founded Artemis Networks and when?
Steve Perlman founded the company in the early 2000s and still serves as its CEO. He also created the Rearden incubator, through which Artemis operated in stealth mode before revealing its work to the public.
What makes pCell different from conventional cellular technology?
pCell uses software-defined radio to generate an individual virtual cell for each user, and the company states it can reach speeds hundreds of times greater than competing approaches in congested, high-interference environments.
What was the 2011 white paper about?
In 2011, CEO Steve Perlman and chief scientist Antonio Forenza co-authored a white paper promoting Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output (DIDO) technology. A filmed presentation of the paper was released, and it sparked considerable debate within the wireless research community.
What did Artemis Networks file with the FCC?
In May 2013 the company requested an FCC experimentation license that would let it test transmitters equipped with up to 100 antennas. The goal was to validate its multi-antenna, per-user virtual-cell architecture in a real-world regulatory sandbox.
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