When a natural disaster strikes and too many people take to their mobile phones at once, cellular networks easily overload. In a study published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, Mai Hassan, an Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD student, found a way to opportunistically use television and radio channels to transmit cellular signals when systems are pushed beyond capacity.

“I proposed a more effective way to use any channel in the neighborhood, even if those channels are being used by radio or television stations,” said Hassan. “The challenge was finding a way to make sure the cellular signals didn’t interfere with the people using those channels in the first place.”

See the UBC Faculty of Applied Science News for the full article.