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Bluetooth WiFi Architecture Speeds Transfer of Bulk Data
Bluetooth short range wireless technology is noted for low power, high security and device discovery and paring, but WiFi rates higher for speed. A new architecture, called Alternate MAC/PHY, combines the best of both by enabling Bluetooth protocols to make momentary use of WiFi to speed up the transfer of large format entertainment data. Developed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the architecture allows classic Bluetooth connections to piggyback on the already present IEEE 802.11 radio to send bulky music, video and photo files between devices at short range. SIG members can expect to see the core specification for Alternate MAC/PHY in mid-2009. Development work on the use of ultra wideband technology as a high-speed channel for Bluetooth technology continues. Read more
Learn more about Bluetooth and WiFi in IEEE Xplore®
Wireless Modules Allow Engineers to Build Wireless Links in an Afternoon
Nordic Semiconductor, IEEE Enterprise Subscriber, has announced the release of several pre-approved RF modules, making it easy for designers without specialized RF knowledge to build an Ultra-Low Power (ULP) ISM-band wireless link into a product or application within hours. Designed by RF Digital, the modules have been created with all the RF development work already complete, requiring only a digital In/Out, power (+V) and ground (GND) connection. Designed to work in almost any operating environment or product design, the modules are particularly attractive to product designers that may be new to wireless. RF Digital has also developed six off-the-shelf application modules ready for instant drop-in. All application modules are FCC and IC-approved and European CE approval is expected soon. Read more
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Wide Scale Use of RFID Simulated
Students, engineers and staff at the University of Washington (USA) are exploring the complications of pervasive surveillance of people and things in a large-scale simulation, called RFID Ecosystem. Volunteers will allow electronic tags on clothing and belongings to track their location every five seconds in a six-story building. The information will be stored in a database and used in various custom tools to research the balance between privacy and utility. While currently used in commercial applications, the use of RFID to track movement of people is still under debate. Read more
Learn more about RFID in IEEE Xplore®
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2008 IEEE Educational Activities Board Award Nominations
The IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) is seeking nominations to recognize and honor individuals, companies and IEEE Sections for their contributions to engineering and technical education. The deadline for the 2008 nominations is 30 April 2008. There are eight awards open for nominations:
- IEEE EAB Meritorious Achievement Award in Accreditation Activities - for efforts that foster the maintenance and improvement of education through the accreditation process.
- IEEE EAB Meritorious Achievement Award in Continuing Education - for contributions to the design, delivery, and support of continuing education courses and programs in the IEEE fields of interest.
- IEEE EAB Meritorious Achievement Award in Informal Education - for IEEE members who volunteer their time in public educational settings such as museums, parks, zoos, and aquariums and serve as librarians, docents, tour guides, curators, board members or technical advisors. This award recognizes their impact on teachers, students and the public.
- IEEE EAB Major Educational Innovation Award - for outstanding educational innovations that have had a major impact and have been emulated by others.
- IEEE EAB Pre-University Educator Award - for current pre-university classroom teachers who have inspired an appreciation of mathematics, science, technology, and the engineering process. Pre-university teachers who have encouraged students to pursue technical careers are also recognized through this award.
- IEEE EAB Meritorious Service Citation - for IEEE volunteers who are past members of EAB or current or past members of EAB Committees (other than currently serving on ARC) for outstanding and sustained service to the aims and objectives of the Educational Activities Board.
- IEEE EAB Employer Professional Development Award - for organizations employing IEEE members and their contributions to their employees' continuing education and professional development.
- IEEE EAB Section Professional Development Award - for the development of outstanding products and services by IEEE Sections that support the continuing education and professional development of their members
For complete award descriptions, honorarium details, and access to nomination packets, visit us on-line. Questions about the 2008 Award nominations can be emailed to eab-awards@ieee.org.
Read about the 2007 EAB Award Recipients
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New Product Lets Users Wirelessly Collect Sport and Health Data
Smart phones and PDAs can wirelessly download and analyze data from sports performance and health monitoring sensors such as heart rate straps and speed/distance activity monitors for the first time using Spectec's miniSDIO ANTTM card. Although sports and health monitoring sensors typically communicate with specialized wrist top computers or bike computers, the ability to interface directly to a smart phone has long been sought because of their capacity to transmit data to medical practitioners or coaches via the cellular network. "Health or sports monitoring centered on mobile devices is cited as the future of personal wireless sensor networks, but there is no need to wait two or three more years for other technologies to mature," explains Brian Macdonald, Director of ANT. "Spectec has demonstrated that developers can now confidently use proven ANT and ANT+Sport products to connect ultra-low power wireless sensors seamlessly with a smart phone or PDA and create lucrative consumer applications." Read more
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LiMo-Compliant Mobile Handsets Debuts
NEC Corporation exhibited the first LiMo-compliant mobile handsets at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain earlier this year, making the Linux-based software platform for mobile devices available to markets worldwide. The LiMo Foundation, a global consortium of mobile leaders delivering an open handset platform for the mobile industry, also showcased handsets at the conference. The Foundation credits display of the handsets within 12 months of the LiMo launch to strong industry engagement, its inclusive governance model, and a pragmatic, code-centric approach to open-source innovation. The commercial LiMo handsets introduced at MWC include the FOMA™ N905i, variously equipped for such advanced functions as 3G/GSM international roaming, HSDPA, "One-segment" mobile TV, GPS location information, enhanced "2in1" combining (which combine the capabilities of two phones in one handset) and credit payment services. Read more
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World's Largest 802.11n Wireless Network Set to Deploy
Duke University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, will deploy the next phase of its mobility transformation by deploying an expansive next-generation 802.11n wireless network across its campus. Featuring more than 2,500 Cisco access points, the network is the largest planned 802.11n wireless network in the world by any organization to date. Duke, which was one of the first organizations to deploy 802.11n technologies, will blanket more than six million square feet of its campus with WiFi-certified Cisco 802.11n Aironet® 1250 Series access points, providing ubiquitous wireless coverage to academic halls, libraries, residence halls and other campus buildings. According to Tracy Futhey, Duke's Chief Information Officer, "universities are an ideal testing ground for new technologies, especially wireless uses and devices, because students are spending their entire day on campus in a mobile manner." Cisco's 802.11n technology, which dramatically increases the speed and reliability of traditional wireless networks, was cited as a fundamental part of Duke's strategy to implement the network. Read more
Learn more about 802.11n wireless networks in IEEE Xplore®
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Company Specializes in Balloon-Based Wireless
Space Data, a wireless services and solutions company based out of Chandler, Arizona, USA, is trying to bring wireless service to millions of rural Americans by "beaming it down" from balloons hovering at the edge of space. The company already launches 10 balloons a day across the southern United States, providing specialized telecom services to truckers and oil companies. The balloons soar 20 miles into the stratosphere, each carrying a shoebox-sized payload of electronics that acts like a mini cell phone "tower" covering thousands of square miles below. The telecom system requires some creativity since the inexpensive balloons are good for only 24 hours or so before ultimately bursting in the thin air of the upper atmosphere. The company says a single balloon can serve an area otherwise requiring 40 cell towers, leading some to consider the solution for a nationwide wireless system. Read more
Learn more about cell towers in IEEE Xplore
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Standards Compete for Future of 4G
Mobile vendors are jockeying over competing standards WiMax, LTE (Long Term Evolution) and UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband) as the future of next-generation 4G wireless broadband networks. AT&T recently joined Verizon Wireless in support of LTE, which China Mobile is also expected to back. In the WiMax camp, Sprint Nextel and KDDI in Japan are committed to roll out networks this year; Intel, Motorola and Samsung were early supporters. All leading telecoms infrastructure vendors exhibited WiMax kits in Barcelona, but equipment makers are also racing to ready LTE equipment. WiMax has the advantage of being ready for deployment now—as well as an endorsement by the International Telecommunications Union. LTE technology deployment is expected to take until late 2009. Alcatel-Lucent and NEC, however, just announced a joint venture to pool their LTE resources, possibly accelerating development. UMB, backed by Qualcomm, is the furthest away from commercial use. Read more
Learn more about 4G wireless networks in IEEE Xplore®
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Call for Papers: International Conference on Mobile Ad-hoc and Sensor Systems
The 5th Annual IEEE International Conference on Mobile Ad-hoc and Sensor Systems (IEEE MASS 08) is being held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 29 September - 2 October 2008. IEEE MASS 2008 aims to address advances in research on mobile ad-hoc and sensor networks, covering topics ranging from technology issues to applications and test-bed development. Original, unpublished contributions are solicited in all aspects of mobile ad-hoc networks and wireless sensor networks, systems and applications. Abstracts are due 14 March and complete manuscripts are due 21 March 2008. Learn more
View conference proceedings from past IEEE MASS conferences in IEEE Xplore
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Industry Leaders See Mobile Web Leading to Free Voice
At Barcelona's Mobile World Congress, panel speakers from Softbank, Yahoo and Research in Motion (RIM) agreed that voice communication will be an important commodity as internet services become the new frontier for mobile telecommunications carriers. Yahoo's Japan unit, the nation's dominant internet search engine, is now providing free web-based voice services to its subscribers. Yahoo is launching e-mail, messaging and social network services, and RIM sees mobile internet as a unified communications breakthrough for business-to-business. Panelists also shared concerns that content and service providers will dominate carriers and expressed reservations about overall capacity and speed. Read more
Learn more about mobile web in IEEE Xplore®
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Joint Effort to Send Mobiles to the Moon Continues
After conquering the farthest corners of the globe, mobile phones are now destined for the final frontier—space. NASA and the British National Space Centre (BNSC) prepare to trial a mobile phone network for the moon. This would ensure a full four-bar signal for lunar colonists living in a base NASA wants to build at the south pole of the moon after 2020. David Parker, Director of Space Science at the BNSC, said the early lunar system will be comparable to the "satellite phone network of the 1980s and 1990s on earth." Phone calls and other information would be bounced off satellites orbiting the moon for communication between colonists, the moon base and the earth. The joint NASA/BNSC MoonLite mission, due to be launched after 2012, will test a prototype version of the satellite phone network. During the MoonLite mission, a lunar orbiter would use the technology to transmit information about the structure of the moon back to earth from scientific instruments buried in the lunar soil. Read more
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