DailyDirt: Is There A Better Word For Wireless?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Wired communications are obviously a more reliable connection than any wireless technology (when a wired connection is actually possible or practical), so wirelines aren't going away any time soon. (Well, unless you live on an island off the coast of New Jersey.) But wireless technologies offer some pretty clear advantages, too. Maybe we'll discover some way to make wireless connections just as solid as wired ones, but until then, here are just a few advances for transmitting information without a wire or cable.

• If you're really paranoid about someone intercepting your home WiFi network, maybe someday you can set up a wireless network that transmits via visible wavelengths (so a wall would effectively block out would-be eavesdroppers). It might be annoying to set up a wireless network like this for more than one room, though. [url]
• Cheap, high-bandwidth transmitters for satellite communications in the 42-25 GHz range might be nice to have in a smartphone. A couple DARPA teams have demonstrated the feasibility of millimeter-wave power amplifiers on silicon chips for the first time. [url]
• T-rays (aka terahertz rays) have been shown to break the 3 Gbps barrier -- but a T-ray based WiFi network would probably only achieve 100 Gbps and have a range of about 10 meters. FYI: T-rays are part of the unregulated spectrum, and they can penetrate some materials (but not metals or water). [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: bandwidth, communication, networks, satellite, t-ray, technology, unregulated spectrum, wifi, wireless
Companies: darpa