Random Accesses

Ofcom has published a discussion document to explore the potential of a technology that could wirelessly link up different devices and offer enhanced broadband access in rural areas.

The technology works by searching for unoccupied radio waves, called 'white spaces', between TV channels to transmit and receive wireless signals.

Compared with other forms of wireless technology, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, white-space devices are being designed to use lower frequencies that have traditionally been reserved for TV.

Although at least three years away from commercial production, possible applications include improved mobile-broadband access in rural areas; digital cameras that can automatically transmit photos back to a user's computer as soon as the shutter is operated and the ability to control appliances in the home – such as the oven and central heating – hundreds of miles away.

However, white-space devices must first prove they can operate without interfering with TV broadcasts and other wireless technologies that share these frequencies, such as wireless microphones.

Source: http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/314190/Ofcom+explores+white-space+device.htm?nl=TE_NL&dep=webops&dte=181109

The crew of the classic science-fiction show's Starship Enterprise wore small devices on their chests that they could tap to communicate instantly with their colleagues. Such communications technology is now closer to reality thanks to a Finnish company which this week demonstrated high-tech clothing that can send and receive messages via satellite.

The demonstrator antenna, built by the Patria Aviation Oy company, looks like a simple patch of cloth but is capable of operating in the Iridium and GPS frequency band as part of clothing. The Iridium satellites allow two-way voice and data communication, while GPS provides positional data to the user. Iridium could also relay the position of the user.

According to the firm, the project's main issue was selecting the fabric to use because the material's electrical characteristics had to be measured using a number of techniques. This is not a completely trivial task and different measurement techniques have to be used in order to evaluate the validity of the extracted parameters, such as the systems ability to store electric capacity, what researchers called its dielectric constant. The next goal was to determine the antenna's performance when the wearer was moving around or bending.

Source: http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/45768

Recently, Intel researchers demonstrated 45 research projects, ranging from ray-tracing algorithms for better animation to organic photovoltaics for flexible solar cells, at the Computer History Museum, in Mountain View, CA. But the project that received the most attention by far was the demo of a wirelessly charged iPod speaker. The speaker was attached to a copper coil with a 30-centimeter diameter, and it was powered by magnetic fields produced from a second coil, with double the diameter, nearly a meter away.

Intel's wireless power project, first announced at the company's developer forum last August, bears a strong resemblance to a project announced by researchers at MIT in 2007, which was featured as one of the TR10 top emerging technologies of 2008. Similar to the MIT project led by Marin Soljacic and the prototypes developed by the spinoff startup WiTricity, the Intel project uses magnetic fields to transfer energy; the type of radiation shared between the two coils is nonradiative, which means that it's confined to a short distance of less than two meters.

The idea of wireless power transfer is, of course, not new. Physicist Nikola Tesla proposed it in the late 19th century.

Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22906/

LG Electronics recently announced that it has independently developed the first handset (user equipment) modem chip based on 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE)technology standards. The modem chip can theoretically support wireless download speeds of 100Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of 50Mbps. This represents a significant step toward creating a market-ready 4G phone.

The Modem Chip is the most crucial component required to create a viable 4G handset with LTE technology, the leading candidate to become the fourth generation mobile phone technology standard.

Source: http://www.lge.com/about/press_release/detail/21031_1.jhtml

Lights may soon do more than just shine in dark places – they might wirelessly connect your computer, phone or car to the Internet.

Sounds strange, but consider this. Remote controls already use infrared light to communicate with TVs and DVD players. Turning ceiling and reading lamps into wireless access points could allow you to get your Internet fix almost anywhere.

These aren't just any lights, though. Little and other researchers hope to piggyback on the spread of light-emitting diode (LED) light bulbs, which are finding favor as low-energy, long-lasting alternatives to the more conventional incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs.

Source: http://www.livescience.com/technology/081013-smart-lighting.html