CSI’s ForkStream comes 2nd in NovaUCD Start-up Awards 2011

ForkStream, a new CSI venture, was announced as second place winner at the NovaUCD 2011 Start-Up Award, which are part of the 16th NovaUCD Campus Company Development Programme. ForkStream is developing a disruptive technology to allow mobile network operators to cost effectively and seamlessly the offloading of smart phone traffic to any available WiFi network.
It is estimated that 40% of all mobile phones currently shipped are smart phones and that the percentage, of data-hungry devices, will continue to grow in the coming years. Mobile operators are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the traffic volumes they currently experience and are predicted to experience in the future. For example, AT&T has seen an 8,000% growth in mobile data traffic over the last four years.
To assist mobile operators in dealing with this issue ForkStream has developed a novel technology that allows smart phone traffic to be seamlessly off-loaded onto much lower cost WiFi networks. These networks can be deployed by the operators themselves or they can utilise networks that are available in users’ homes, cafes and other public places.
Forkstream’s solution has many significant benefits, it leverages available WiFi networks to offer significant increases in network capacity without requiring the extremely expensive deployment of new base stations. It also provides higher levels of quality and network service availability to indoor users and users in poor coverage areas without expanding network infrastructure.
The promoters of ForkStream are Dr John Fitzpatrick and Dr Hamid Nafaa, who are researchers at the Performance Engineering Lab in CSI. ForkStream has been developed from research funded by Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland.

(Source: NovaUCD)