Wireless Technology
First-ever secure quantum code transmitted through air
April 3, 2013 9:56 am | News | Comments
Physicists in Germany have, for the first time, successfully transmitted secure quantum information through the atmosphere from an aircraft to a ground station. Given the accuracy of the laser- and mirror-based system, which 3 m over a distance of 20 km, the experiment represents an important step towards secure satellite-based global communication.
Cradle turns smartphone into handheld biosensor
May 23, 2013 10:49 pm | by Liz Ahlberg, University of Illinois | News | Comments
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a cradle and app...
Unusual testbed analyzes X-ray navigation technologies
May 21, 2013 8:10 am | by Lori Keesey, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center | News | Comments
Pulsars rotate rapidly, emitting powerful and regular beams of radiation that are seen...
Scientists discover 3D magnetic vortices
May 7, 2013 11:15 am | News | Comments
Magnetic vortices typically occur in nanometer-scale magnetic disks, which are studied...
Making frequency-hopping radios practical
May 15, 2013 7:45 am | by Larry Hardesty, MIT News Office | News | CommentsThe way in which radio spectrum is currently allocated to different wireless technologies can lead to gross inefficiencies. Cognitive radio serves as a solution. Different proposals for cognitive radio place different emphases on hardware and software, but the chief component of many hardware approaches is a bank of filters that can isolate any frequency in a wide band. Researchers have developed a new method for manufacturing such filters.
Researchers create shape-shifting mobile devices
April 29, 2013 8:19 am | News | CommentsAt a conference this week in Europe on human-machine interfaces, a research team from the U.K. will introduce the concept of “shape resolution”, which it has used to compare the resolution of six prototypes built using new technologies in shape-changing material, such as shape memory alloy and electro active polymer. One example is the Morphees, a self-actuated flexible mobile device that can change shape on-demand.
Tracking gunfire with a smartphone
April 26, 2013 8:41 am | by David Salisbury, Vanderbilt University | News | CommentsYou are walking down the street with a friend. A shot is fired. The two of you duck behind the nearest cover and you pull out your smartphone. A map of the neighborhood pops up on its screen with a large red arrow pointing in the direction the shot came from. A team has made such a scenario possible by developing a system that transforms a smartphone into a shooter location system.
Scientists in Korea develop low-power 60 GHz RF chip for mobile devices
March 31, 2013 6:44 pm | News | CommentsAs a possible method for accelerating transmission of large data, researchers are studying the adoption of gigabits per second (Gbps) wireless communications operating over the 60 GHz radio frequency (RF) band. But mobile applications have not been developed yet because the 60 GHz RF circuit consumes hundreds of milliwatts of DC power. A new chip developed at KAIST in Korea, however, consumes as little 67 mW of power thanks to newly developed components.
Wireless sensor diagnoses “stressed” machines remotely
March 20, 2013 10:18 am | News | CommentsSingapore company Hoestar PD Technology is working with that country’s leading research organization, A*STAR, to deploy wireless piezoelectric sensors that will track vibrations and stresses that affect the health of machinery such as motors, pumps and generators. The size of a coin, the sensors increase productivity by saving time, reducing manual checking, and offering precision at detecting defects.
Wireless, implanted sensor broadens range of brain research
March 19, 2013 3:31 pm | News | CommentsA compact, self-contained sensor recorded and transmitted brain activity data wirelessly for more than a year in early stage animal tests, according to a recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health. In addition to allowing for more natural studies of brain activity in moving subjects, this implantable device represents a potential major step toward cord-free control of advanced prosthetics that move with the power of thought
Project aims to manage traffic in California using data
March 19, 2013 10:56 am | by Gordy Slack, CITRIS | News | CommentsTwo California urban areas have the dubious distinction of being tied for second-worst traffic in the country. Commuters spend 61 hours per year being stuck in traffic in the Bay Area and in Los Angeles. A new project called Connected Corridors, led by University of California, Berkeley, is developing new technologies that will help Caltrans gather and analyze traffic data to make real-time whole-system traffic management recommendations
Intense terahertz pulses cause both DNA damage and repair
March 15, 2013 10:12 am | News | CommentsTerahertz (THz) radiation, a slice of the electromagnetic spectrum that occupies the middle ground between microwaves and infrared light, is rapidly finding important uses in medical diagnostics. Now, new research performed on lab-grown human skin suggests that short but powerful bursts of THz radiation may both cause DNA damage and increase the production of proteins that help the body fight cancer.
White House: Cell phone unlocking should be legal
March 5, 2013 10:07 am | News | CommentsAn Obama administration adviser says the White House believes smartphone and tablet users should be allowed to unlock their phones and use the devices on the network of their choosing. The administration's opinion on the matter also goes for tablets, since they are becoming similar to smartphones.
Smart “stickers” let you find things by phone
March 1, 2013 10:43 am | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsJimmy Buchheim's Davie, Fla.-based company, Stick-N-Find Technologies, wants to give people a way to find things, whether it's keys, wallets, TV remotes, or cat collars. There's no real trick to sending out a radio signal and having a phone pick it up. That's been done before. What makes Buchheim’s Stick-N-Find practical is a new radio technology known as Bluetooth Low Energy, which drastically reduces the battery power needed to send out a signal.
Companies struggle to popularize mobile money
March 1, 2013 10:25 am | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsAt the world's largest cellphone trade show in Barcelona this week, the 70,000 attendees are encouraged to use their cellphones—instead their keycards—to get past the turnstiles at the door. But very few people took the chance to do that. The process of setting up the phone to act as a keycard proved too much of a hassle. It's a poor omen for an industry that's eager to have the cellphone replace both tickets and credit cards.
Brown unveils novel wireless brain sensor
February 28, 2013 9:08 am | News | CommentsA team of neuroengineers based at Brown University has developed a fully implantable and rechargeable wireless brain sensor capable of relaying real-time broadband signals from up to 100 neurons in freely moving subjects. Several copies of the novel low-power device have been performing well in animal models for more than year, a first in the brain-computer interface field.
KAIST develops wireless power transfer tech for high capacity transit
February 13, 2013 9:51 am | News | CommentsEngineers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Korea Railroad Research Institute have designed a wireless technology that can be applied to high capacity transportation systems such as railways, harbor freight, and airport transportation, and logistics. The technology supplies 60 kHz and 180 kW of power remotely to transport vehicles at a stable, constant rate.
New device electrically steers and focuses terahertz waves
January 29, 2013 7:53 am | News | CommentsResearchers in Japan and Germany have recently demonstrated a device that can focus and steer terahertz beams electrically. Based on an array of metal cantilevers which can be micromechanically actuated by electrostatic forces, the device can create tunable gratings that may be crucial in future terahertz wavelength communication systems.
Smarter infrastructure
January 11, 2013 9:21 am | News | CommentsA team from the University of Cambridge has developed a mechanical amplifier to convert ambient vibrations into electricity more effectively, which could be used to power wireless sensors for monitoring the structural health of roads, bridges, and tunnels.
Physicists entangle artificial atom with light particle
November 26, 2012 12:57 pm | by Fabio Bergamin | News | CommentsA team of researchers in Switzerland has succeeded in entangling an “artificial” atom and a light particle for the first time in a semiconductor system. Though impractical for use in actual semiconductor devices, the successful demonstration of entanglement of a stationary atom is a promising step toward a new form of telecommunication based on quantum physics.
Toshiba shows off robot meant to help at nuke site
November 26, 2012 11:00 am | by Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsEngineers at Toshiba Corp. have developed a robot it says can withstand high radiation to work in nuclear disasters. The four-legged robot can climb over debris and venture into radiated areas off-limits to humans while keeping in wireless communication despite high radiation. But it's not yet clear what exactly the robot is capable of doing if and when it gets the go-ahead to enter Japan's crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.
Smartphones, labs to reveal health effects of environmental pollutants
November 20, 2012 10:27 am | News | CommentsA major new initiative in the European Union is being launched to build a complete picture of how environmental pollutants influence health. Researchers are being asked to use smartphones equipped with GPS and environmental sensors to monitor study participants and their exposure to potential hazards. This information will be combined with blood and urine analysis to investigate whether exposure to risk factors leaves chemical fingerprints that can be detected in bodily fluids.
Researchers find way to boost WiFi performance
November 14, 2012 8:05 am | News | CommentsAs many WiFi users know, WiFi performance is often poor in areas where there are a lot of users, such as airports or coffee shops. But researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new software program, called WiFox, which can be incorporated into existing networks and expedites data traffic in large audience WiFi environments—improving data throughput by up to 700%.
Shelley, Stanford's robotic racecar, hits the track
August 14, 2012 8:37 am | by Bjorn Carey | News | CommentsOnly a few decals and antennas set Stanford University’s white Audi TTS apart from any other Audi coupe. But Shelly, as the car is known, doesn’t have a driver when it’s circling Thunderhill Raceway in California at 120 mph. Controlled by sophisticated software, it posts lap times that rival those of professional drivers.
Wireless power for the price of a penny
August 10, 2012 4:08 am | News | CommentsResearchers in Korea have created what they call a rectenna—a combination of an antenna and a rectifier—which converts alternating current into direct current. For a price of just one penny per unit the device can be placed onto objects such as price tags, logos, and signage so that we can read product information on our smartphones with one simple swipe.
Emergency communications technology progresses to field test
August 9, 2012 9:20 am | by Diane Stirling | News | CommentsNew technology under development by Syracuse University, Virginia Tech, and the Rochester Institute of Technology is designed to help public emergency response communication devices remain in contact with each other even if cell towers and Internet networks go down during a natural or manmade disaster. The system, Intelligent Deployable Augmented Wireless Gateway (iDAWG), will soon be tested in the field.
Major step taken towards “unbreakable” message exchange
August 3, 2012 8:42 am | News | CommentsQuantum key distribution is not a new phenomenon and has been in commercial use for several years to secure communication networks. Recently, however, single particles of light, also known as photons, have been produced and implemented into a wireless QKD link, transmitting 40 cm through the air.
Networcsim hoping to broaden wireless revolution
July 30, 2012 3:50 am | News | CommentsA Tennessee company has licensed award-winning software from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) that will help industries install wireless networks more cost-effectively in challenging environments such as mines, offshore drilling platforms and factory floors. Networcsim signed an agreement today to license the Radio Channel Simulator software, which won an R&D 100 Award this month.
Frog calls inspire new algorithm for wireless networks
July 17, 2012 7:02 am | News | CommentsMales of the Japanese tree frog have learned not to use their calls at the same time so that the females can distinguish between them. Scientists at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia have used this form of calling behavior to create an algorithm that assigns colors to network nodes—an operation that can be applied to developing efficient wireless networks.
