# CSIRO's High-Frequency Wireless Network Technology > This 1996 patent from CSIRO describes a wireless local area network system that can send data reliably using radio waves above 10 GHz, even when signals bounce off walls. - **Patent:** US 5487069 - **Original title:** Wireless LAN - **Owner:** Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization CSIRO - **Granted:** 1996 - **Status:** Public domain (expired) - **Times cited:** 120 - **Field:** telecommunications, consumer_electronics, software ## What it does This patent covers a wireless local area network (LAN) system designed to work even when radio signals bounce around, a common issue in indoor spaces. It uses transceivers, which are devices that can both send and receive signals. These transceivers operate at radio frequencies higher than 10 GHz. The key innovation is how they process data: they break the data into smaller pieces called symbols. The duration of each symbol is made longer than the expected delay caused by bounced signals. This technique, along with methods to improve data reliability like error correction and interleaving data blocks, ensures that data can be transmitted and received accurately despite signal reflections. The system includes hub transceivers that connect to data sources and destinations, and mobile transceivers that connect to computers or other processing devices. ## What it does NOT cover - Wireless systems operating at frequencies below 10 GHz - Wireless systems that do not specifically address multipath transmission environments - Methods of transmitting data that do not involve breaking data into symbols longer than expected signal delay times - Wireless systems that do not include data reliability enhancement techniques like Forward Error Correction or interleaving ## The clever bit The invention's cleverness lies in its method for handling signal reflections, or 'multipath'. By ensuring data symbols are longer than the time difference between direct and bounced signals, the system can effectively 'see' through the echoes and reconstruct the original data, a significant hurdle for high-frequency wireless communication. ## Real-world examples 1. Early Wi-Fi standards (IEEE 802.11) 2. High-speed wireless networking equipment ## Why it matters This patent is foundational for early high-speed wireless networking. It describes core technologies that enabled Wi-Fi to function effectively in real-world environments where signals reflect off surfaces. The techniques patented here were crucial for developing robust wireless local area networks that could compete with wired connections. ## Frequently asked questions ### What does CSIRO's High-Frequency Wireless Network Technology cover? This 1996 patent from CSIRO describes a wireless local area network system that can send data reliably using radio waves above 10 GHz, even when signals bounce off walls. ### Who owns patent US 5487069? Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization CSIRO owns this patent, granted in 1996. ### When does this patent expire? This patent has expired and is now in the public domain — anyone can use the invention freely. ### What is patent US 5487069 cited by? This patent has been cited by 120 later patents that build on its ideas. ### What problem does this patent solve? This patent is foundational for early high-speed wireless networking. It describes core technologies that enabled Wi-Fi to function effectively in real-world environments where signals reflect off surfaces. The techniques patented here were crucial for developing robust wireless local area networks that could compete with wired connections. ### What does this patent NOT cover? Wireless systems operating at frequencies below 10 GHz **Full plain-English explainer:** https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/5487069/wifi-csiro-wireless-lan **Original patent:** https://patents.google.com/patent/US5487069 --- _Source: PatentBrief — https://patentbrief.org. Patent facts are from public records; the plain-English explanation is PatentBrief's._ ## Related patents Semantically similar inventions in the PatentBrief corpus: - [How Bluetooth Creates Wireless Networks with Unique Addresses](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/6590928/bluetooth-frequency-hopping) — This 2003 patent describes how Bluetooth devices use a master device's address and clock to create a unique, hopping radio channel for communication and build a network map. - [How Multiple Computers Share a Network Cable Without Crashing](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/4063220/ethernet-packet-network) — This patent describes how multiple computers can share a single communication cable by listening for other transmissions and stopping their own if a collision occurs, then trying again later. - [How Wireless Routers Manage Traffic Between Old and New Devices](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/7352772/minimization-of-performance-impact-in-overlying-80211b-and-80211g-networks) — A method for wireless access points to prevent older, slower Wi-Fi devices from clogging the network connection for newer, faster devices. - [How Early Mobile Devices Accessed the Internet Using Split Proxies](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/5673322/system-and-method-for-providing-protocol-translation-and-filtering-to-access-the-world-wide-web-from-wireless-or-low-bandwidth-networks) — A 1996 system that made the early web usable on slow, unreliable wireless connections by using two 'proxy' servers to shrink and simplify data before sending it. - [How Marconi Patented Early Wireless Telegraphy Signals](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/586193/radio-wireless-marconi) — Guglielmo Marconi's 1897 patent for sending electrical signals through the air to enable early wireless communication.