• Interview: Dr Arseniy Kuznetsov, senior scientist, A*Star

    Interview: Dr Arseniy Kuznetsov, senior scientist, A*Star

    The past few decades have seen numerous attempts to bring 3D animation to computers and consumer devices, but results have been far from successful. Even though 3D TVs made it to market several years ago and events such as the Olympics and the World Cup were captured in stereo, it did not take long for manufacturers to realise these products were not going to drive sales. Having to use special glasses to see stereo images did not help either. What we really want is an image that conveys depth properly, through holographics. According to Arseniy Kuznetsov, a photonics expert and pioneer in the development of nanoantennas, a display that brings holographics to smartphones is on its way. “People have been dreaming about this and talking about it for a long time,” he says. “We know this because…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX
  • Moore’s Law 2017: an uphill battle

    Moore’s Law 2017: an uphill battle

    Moore’s Law, first hypothesised in 1965 by Intel founder Gordon Moore, states that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit will double approximately every two years. The shrinking of transistors enables a larger number to be held within the same area, which results in a faster processor that can operate at lower power requirements. Although the law was adhered to rigidly for half a century, in 2015 Intel admitted that the pace of advancement had started to slow down. Its eighth-generation Core CPUs, codenamed Coffee Lake, are set to launch in the second half of 2017 and will once again be built on the same 14-nanometre (nm) process used three generations prior for its Broadwell chips, originally released in 2014. What this means for the future of Moore’s Law is currently…

  • Outdated strategies are the wrong approach to implementing 5G

    There’s a saying that generals are always preparing to fight the previous war. They’ve learnt successful strategies from prior experience and are inclined to use them in the next battle. Learning from experience is critically important, but previous strategies can be inappropriate when other factors change.It might be that the mobile community is fighting a 5G war with lessons learnt from previous generations – a conclusion drawn in my recent book ‘The 5G Myth’. In the past, introductions of new generations of mobile technology have concentrated on faster speeds and greater capacity. Many are assuming that 5G will continue this trend. Ericsson, for example, has said there is a general industry consensus “that traffic volumes will be multiplied 1,000 times; 100 times more devices will require…

  • View from India: India poised to become one of world’s top manufacturing destinations

    A case in point is mobile handsets. India is among the world’s fastest-growing smartphone markets, yet feature phones continue to remain a second choice, as they comparatively offer better durability and battery life than smartphones. It simply means that there’s a demand for both smartphones and feature phones. Given this premise, the entire mobile phone segment is expected to generate millions of jobs through manufacturing and assembly units and service centres. Considering the manufacturing sector, the government of India has been promoting sector specific parks like electronic manufacturing clusters and agro-based food parks in order to boost large-scale manufacturing. Apart from that, the creation of smart sustainable and clean cities is another effort in this direction. “The world…

  • Very Large Telescope upgrade enhances our hunt for new Earth

    Very Large Telescope upgrade enhances our hunt for new Earth

    As part of the project, the VISIR instrument (VLT Imager and Spectrometer for mid-Infrared), which is part of the VLT, will be modified in order to be able to better detect potentially habitable planets in the star system some 4.37 light-years away from the Earth. Breakthrough Initiative, funded by billionaire Yuri Milner and supported by physicist Stephen Hawking, will fund the upgrade. Detecting habitable planets in distant star systems is extremely complicated as the planets are hidden in the bright light of their particular stars. The mid-infrared wavelength range makes it possible to find those planets as the difference in the thermal glow is smaller. Still, however, the planets are millions of times less bright than the stars. The new technology to be developed for VISIR will enable…

  • Innovative antenna boosts smartphone and laptop battery life

    Innovative antenna boosts smartphone and laptop battery life

    The new antenna, developed by Birmingham University spin-out Smart Antenna Technologies (SAT), essentially bundles all existing antennas on a smartphone into one unit. Currently, smartphones need up to seven separate antennas for Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth and 3G and 4G due to physics constraints. “Previously antenna’s needed to be physically separated due to the physics challenge of achieving good signal isolation between antennas,” explained Sampson Hu, SAT’s CEO, who developed the technology as part of an engineering research project at the University of Birmingham. “It’s like if the person beside you is shouting loudly it is very difficult to hear what the person 50 meters away is saying.” The new design overcomes the challenges by isolating individual ports to allow uninterrupted reception…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX
  • Nominet and Microsoft collaborate on TV white space broadband project for Africa

    Nominet and Microsoft collaborate on TV white space broadband project for Africa

    TV white space (TVWS) is the part of the radio spectrum occupied by unassigned or unused UHF and VHF broadcast frequencies, largely unused in many countries since analogue television services started going off air, replaced by digital services. The available set of TVWS frequencies varies from territory to territory, so Nominet developed a geolocation database to tell devices which frequencies they can use in a given area, at what power and for how long. Radio spectrum supports the majority of internet connections, but it is a finite resource and with the anticipated explosion of wireless broadband services and billions of devices connected to the Internet of Things, effective management of the spectrum will become crucial. Speaking to E&T at the launch event, part of Nominet’s Internet…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX

  • Ocado warehouse is powered by 1,000+ 4G-connected robots

    The online supermarket retailer claims that this is the first time the wireless protocol has been used for warehouse automation and said that the technology guarantees a connection ten times per second to each of the robots roaming around the warehouse, which are all working within a 150-metre radius. The protocol works in the licence-free spectrum and also has the potential to be used for other purposes in the future including Internet-of-Things applications, vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity for smart cars, air traffic control systems or large-scale industrial systems. Ocado said that controlling and locating over 1,000 robots in such a small area posed some difficult challenges. Initially the project aimed to use Wi-Fi to maintain radio contact with the robots but most Wi-Fi access points…

  • African continent set to reach one billion mobile subscriptions by end of 2016

    The region's growth in new mobile subscriptions is slowing. The average rate of mobile penetration in Africa was 79 per cent at the end of June, with mobile voice revenue on the continent predicted to decline over the five years to 2021.  However, the next phase of growth is being driven by data and digital services. Data connections, as well as data and digital service revenue, will expand Africa’s telecoms market. The take-up of mobile broadband will rise strongly, powered by operators continuing to roll out 3G and 4G LTE networks in all territories and smartphone handsets becoming increasingly affordable.  By 2021, it is estimated that there will be one billion mobile broadband connections in Africa, including 157.4 million 4G LTE connections. Additionally, the number of smartphone connections…

  • Stanford research shatters illusion of online anonymity

    Stanford research shatters illusion of online anonymity

    In an experiment called Footprints, Stanford University researchers found that online anonymity is just an illusion as using smart algorithms to analyse which websites people access online and who they follow on Twitter can reveal who a particular user is with great accuracy. During the first day of the experiment, the team was able to identify 11 out of 13 volunteers. Out of the total of 300 people who took part in the study the algorithm was able to identify 80 per cent. “I think the first thing I messaged was: ‘This is kind of scary,’” said Stanford undergraduate Ansh Shukla, a senior studying mathematics who is working on the project with Stanford Engineering assistant professor Sharad Goel and Stanford computer science PhD student Jessica Su. Participants in the experiment gave the…

  • Kinematix Tune wearable running companion – review

    Kinematix Tune wearable running companion – review

    The Tune offers something a little different to the wearable technology market; it’s an in-shoe running companion that goes beyond measuring the basic stats, to help serious runners get the most out of each workout. While other wearables on the market can be used to track a run, using multiple sensors and algorithms to measure your speed, heart rate and basic fitness stats, Tune goes further. Tune is an in-shoe monitoring device that links to your phone – yes, it’s another one of those trackers which necessitate your having to have a phone with you while you go on a run – to provide real-time analysis of how your workout is progressing. While it may not be ideal to have to take a phone with you, what this wearable lacks in practicality it makes up for in functionality. The complete Tune…

  • Moov Now activity tracker - review

    Moov Now activity tracker - review

    Marketed as more than just a fitness tracker, Moov Now is a lifestyle coach designed for workouts to help you get the most out of every training session. While the first Moov – released in 2015 – was designed only to be worn during training, the Moov Now has a slimmer, more attractive look and comes complete with all-day activity tracking, sleep monitoring, improved battery life and a waterproof design. This means it can be worn throughout the day, even while you shower. The activity tracker is contained within a small and light plastic sensor which is about an inch wide. It fits snugly into a rubber strap designed to be worn on the wrist or ankle, depending on your workout and comes in a variety of colours. I was rewarded with the exceptionally funky aqua blue design, which stands out…

  • LoRa promises cheap low-power alternative to 5G for IoT devices

    LoRa promises cheap low-power alternative to 5G for IoT devices

    LoRa (Long Range) is among a clutch of narrowband technologies that connect devices cheaply over unlicensed spectrum and vast distances and needs very little power. Unlike 5G networks or Bluetooth, which are more commonly touted as possible technologies for IoT adoption, LoRa’s drawback is that it can only send small parcels of data, rather than the gigabytes most wired and mobile standards aspire to. However, advocates of the platform argue that this may be more than enough. "It turns out you don't need that huge an infrastructure and it can be driven by small devices that are very smart and not very expensive," says Mike Cruse, CEO of Definium Technologies, which is building LoRa-based devices for farmers, universities and mines. The IoT has long promised to hook up devices - everything…

  • A millennium and a half before alien contact astronomers claim

    A millennium and a half before alien contact astronomers claim

    The scientists performed a calculation based on the likelihood of technological civilisations arising among the stars, and the probable length of time they had been transmitting signals across space. They concluded that while there was no reason to think we are alone in the universe, getting in contact may take some time. US researcher Evan Solomonides, a PhD student from Cornell University, said: "We haven't heard from aliens yet, as space is a big place – but that doesn't mean no one is out there. "It's possible to hear any time at all, but it becomes likely we will have heard around 1,500 years from now. "Until then, it is possible that we appear to be alone, even if we are not. But if we stop listening or looking, we may miss the signals. So we should keep looking." Astronomers have long…

  • Record in wireless data transmission achieved

    Record in wireless data transmission achieved

    The technology, which would allow downloading a whole DVD in less than ten seconds, relies on the so-called E-band of the electromagnetic spectrum with frequencies between 71 and 76 GHz, also known as the milimetre-waves. The team from the University of Stuttgart, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF, said the system exceeds ten times existing state-of-the-art technology. During the experiment, the researchers sent data between Cologne’s 45-story Uni-Centre and the Space Observation Radar TIRA located at Fraunhofer Institute for High-Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques in Wachtberg some 37km away. To achieve the high data rates together with the unprecedented distance, the researchers built innovative transmitters and…

  • WiFi capacity doubled with a chip less than half the size

    WiFi capacity doubled with a chip less than half the size

    The engineers achieved this feat by implementing the first ‘on-chip RF circulator’ which allows both incoming and outgoing signals to be sent and received using just one antenna. In the era of Big Data, the current frequency spectrum crisis is one of the biggest challenges researchers are grappling with and it is clear that today's wireless networks will not be able to support tomorrow's data deluge. Today's standards, such as 4G/LTE, already support 40 different frequency bands, and there is no space left at radio frequencies for future expansion. At the same time, the grand challenge of the next-generation 5G network is to increase the data capacity by 1,000 times. The new duplex system enables simultaneous transmission and reception at the same frequency in a wireless radio by using switches…

  • 5G smartphones could use radar tech to boost signal

    5G smartphones could use radar tech to boost signal

    To take full advantage of upcoming 5G networks, antennas need to be much more advanced than they are today where even the best smartphones actually lose around 90 per cent of the signal. One solution being developed by a Danish team from Aalborg University in collaboration with tech firms Intel and Wispry is to have the antennas directed towards the transmitter. This works in a similar fashion to satellite communications where a dish pointing straight up at a satellite can pick up a signal that is 10,000 times weaker than that picked up by a mobile phone. "If you know what direction the signal is coming from, you have a huge advantage," says Gert Frølund Pedersen who worked on the project. Although it may be known where the nearest transmission tower is, the challenge with smartphones is that…

  • Smallest TV antenna ever boasts 'extraordinary reception'

    Smallest TV antenna ever boasts 'extraordinary reception'

    The antenna, created by a team from the University of Morelos, weighs 12g, increasing to 80g when coated. The device can be used both outdoors and indoors and is designed to be placed in a fixed spot in the ceiling. Its compact, rectangular shape has proved strong and resistant, it does not require any attachment when used indoors, and by using a signal splitter it can be connected to different TVs. The antenna does not require electricity and it has been tested by one of the largest television companies in Mexico, with promising results. It has already been subjected to very low temperatures and other harsh environmental conditions as part of the testing process. "In the California area it could pick up the signal of about 70 local channels, and after the analogue switch-off in Mexico…

  • 5G data transmission efficiency increased 12-fold

    5G data transmission efficiency increased 12-fold

    Engineers at the University of Bristol, the UK, and the Swedish University of Lund in cooperation with technology company National Instruments have demonstrated wireless data transmission of 1.59Gbit/s. This was achieved in a 20MHz channel and represents a 12-fold improvement over the fastest currently available 4G cellular technology. MIMO is a multiple-antenna system used in existing Wi-Fi routers and 4G cellular phone networks. It usually relies on four antennas to cater for multipath propagation of the data signal. In massive MIMO, the number of antennas used in a single router is increased multiple times. The system used by the Bristol and Lund teams used 128 antennas. "We see massive MIMO as the most promising 5G technology and we have pushed it forward together with partners in Bristol…

  • Cambridge initiative aims to create 'hyper-connected' city

    Cambridge initiative aims to create 'hyper-connected' city

    Launched by Cambridge Ahead, the #CambsNotspotter initiative aims to take the information on where mobile phone signals, Wi-Fi and broadband access are poor and encourage telecoms providers to take action to improve them. The plan is to provide the city and its surrounding areas with the connectivity infrastructure it needs to become a “hyper-connected” city of the future. “We are going to improve mobile broadband connectivity across the region,” said Faye Holland, Chair of the Connecting Cambridge group within Cambridge Ahead, at the #CambsNotspotter launch in Cambridge. By becoming a #CambsNotspotter, local people will help identify areas of no or low connectivity, or ‘notspots’, using a specially designed app which collects and analyses mobile data signals. The data will then be used to…

  • Facebook uniting telecom sector for 5G development

    Facebook uniting telecom sector for 5G development

    The initiative is said to be "engineering focused" and brings operators, infrastructure providers, system integrators and other technology companies together to collaborate on the development of new technologies to aid the future rollout of 5G communication networks. In a post on its site, Facebook said that with people sharing increasingly data-intensive media, such as high-definition video and even virtual reality experiences in the future, the traditional telecom infrastructure "is not moving as fast as people need it to". Facebook, Intel, and Nokia have pledged to contribute an initial suite of reference designs to the project for improved 5G communication networks that operators can deploy when they need them. Jay Parikh, Facebook’s head of engineering, said the project would “result in…

  • Solution found for GPS hacking

    Solution found for GPS hacking

    Currently, attackers can alter the GPS location data, received by satnav systems in cars for example, by using a satellite simulator. GPS also has a number of industrial uses, such as the temporal synchronisation of machines, which could be brought to a standstill in the event of an attack. Satellite simulators generate fake signals that appear authentic, and sends them out to receivers. “This is how attackers can fool the receiver, which then assumes it is located in a different position than is actually the case,” explains Professor Christina Pöpper, who is leading the team developing a solution to the problem. Their proposal involves the installation of multiple receivers in a vehicle, situated at a distance from each other, that are all receiving GPS data simultaneously. If they receive…

  • Flood management: how to hold back the waters

    Flood management: how to hold back the waters

    While unprecedented rainfall in the UK has inundated parts of Cumbria, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Scotland this winter, the flood-prone town of Pickering in North Yorkshire has (so far) stayed dry.Pickering’s residents, it seems, were protected by relatively low-cost flood defences developed in a project involving Forest Research and Durham, Oxford and Newcastle universities, funded by Defra, Ryedale District Council, North Yorkshire County Council and the Flood Levy. Instead of building a £10m concrete floodwall through the town centre, they spent around £2m on a carefully engineered concrete bund that could store up to 120,000 cubic metres of floodwater upstream of the town. In the catchments of Pickering Beck (draining through Pickering) and the neighbouring catchment of the River Seven…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX
  • EE and BT merger poorly received by the industry

    EE and BT merger poorly received by the industry

    After being given the green light, the new company will have a combined customer base of around 35 million mobile, broadband and TV customers. Despite the criticisms, John Wotton, who chaired the CMA inquiry into the deal, said the evidence "does not show that this merger is likely to cause significant harm to competition or the interests of consumers". Broadband and mobile provider TalkTalk is one such industry player that is not happy with the new deal. "We are disappointed, although not surprised, that the CMA has waived through the BT/EE merger, even though the new entity will be even more dominant than it was before privatisation 30 years ago," it said. Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, added: "Fewer players in a market is rarely a good thing, but now this deal has been approved…

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