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Bullet train websurfing

Japan has seen more wireless web trials in moving vehicles than we'd care to remember over the past few years, but NEC has announced a system that sounds like it might actually make it into service. The key is that whereas previous systems have involved the prospect of an extensive infrastructure buildout, this one picks up any conceivable wireless wave that's out there and uses it. They're already testing it out on the Tokyo-Osaka shinkansen (bullet train) route.

We're not entirely clear on the details since we're working off a somewhat sketchy K-Tai Watch article for this, but the key is the system's ability to keep tabs on all the different connections available at any point and choose the best one based on area coverage ratio and cost. It appears to cover the whole gamut of wireless communications, from 802.11a/b/g, to PHS, CDMA 2000 1x, W-CDMA, and 2G cellphone. It's not clear what equipment you would actually need to connect within the train and how they would arrange the across-the-board access to everyone's networks, but, assuming it all gets off the ground, NEC claims the system doesn't drop connections 99% of the time and gives up to 1.5 Mbps throughput. They're aiming to get it into service in 2005.

[Via K-Tai Watch (Japanese)]