A research team from the Japanese Keio University recently announced it has developed a technology allowing a large number of users to make use of one WLAN at the same time without slowdowns in connection speed. According to the team, the technology proved successful in a test with 2,000 users for one WLAN. The technology provides a way for PCs to share data directly with each other instead of using the WLAN base station as an intermediary. The base station is only used by PCs to identify other users within range of the network. In case direct communications between PCs are slowed down, they can return to regular interaction via the base station. Furthermore, the team has also developed a system which integrates WLAN, mobile phone, and PHS technologies. In this way, a PC can also use mobile phone or PHS networks when a WLAN is unavailable. The research stated that it has proposed its new technologies to the US Internet Engineering Task Force.