Being Wireless @ 60GHz

 

The new technology, being used in every field of human life has become indispensable and scientists are constantly working on improving the existing technology. The discovery of the use of blue tooth as early as 1990s lead to the development of Wi-Fi and IEEE 802.11, the latest of the series is ultra wideband systems. The most important use of having these technologies is the decreased need of cables and wires to connect electronic equipments, and the increased speed at which transmission can take place. Even with so much speed and bandwidth at hand, scientists are looking for options to utilize even more bandwidth.

Scientists are exploring all the available possibilities to acquire more bandwidth, now has turned their attention to infra red light. As of now, this new technology is used in electronic equipments requiring remote control. There have been not much research in this field till now, but situation has changed, with studies to utilize 60GHz is under way.

Along with this, study on semiconductors is also in progress. Use of silicon chips instead of the gallium-arsenide semiconductors which are used presently is being considered. This would be more cost effective and if the designs are successful, the electronic equipments would be working much faster.

In addition to the increased speed, the size of the chips and antennas also can be decreased, with the help of this new technology. The antennas and transceivers can be put together, as the size of the antennas decrease. This also would lead to the lack of need of cables to transfer the data from the antenna to the chips and from chip to chip. Also, the antistatic devices used during assembly to prevent the electrostatic discharge, can be avoided as there are no more open outputs or inputs.

With every new technology, difficulties also appear. The 60GHz wave gets obstructed by any object in its path, it also travels proportionately to the distance between the transmitter and the antenna. This would considerably decrease the power transmitted by the wave, as it reaches the antenna.

Scientists are working to solve these problems and some have come up. Some of the suggestions include using high power, use of multiple transceivers etc. The use of multiple transceivers is considered a good option, but to make it possible, the design of the transceiver would have to be changed. The transceiver which is used at present might be inadequate to meet the increased demands. And the cost of manufacturing these transceivers also has to be considered.

There are bipolar transmitters offering good speed, but at increased cost of production and there are CMOS chips with low speed and low manufacturing cost. Engineers are debating the use and disadvantages of both these. They aim at improving the CMOS chips.

Operating the technique might be difficult, but not impossible. Scientists are also considering the use of 40GHz along with 60GHz.

The use of adaptive antennas is also under evaluation. These would create a beam which would be directly received, considered a solution of the loss of power occurring at the present stage. In this new technology, a lot of emitters are to be used to reduce the loss of power. If this works out, more energy efficient antennas would be manufactured. At the same time, off chip antennas are also under consideration. This would decrease the amount of power lost after it is received at the antenna.

By Amit Samantaray

Terahertz Rays in Security

 

Terahertz rays aiding in the detection of security threats :

A lot of movies show a typical feature which aids the detectives to see through enemies’ camps. This is in the form of a goggle, which would not raise the concern of the adversary, and at the same time, the hero is able to see where the weapons are hidden and in several cases, disable the bombs. X-rays are used to provide this sort of a facility, which is purely fictional. The use of X-ray is limited and the machine cannot be contained to a small goggle.

But scientists are now developing a new technology which might help to an extent in this matter. By the use of terahertz rays, the scientists are hoping to detect all the security threats, like weapons and bombs which might go undetected in the present days. Terahertz rays extend from the upper limit of microwaves to the lower limit of infrared rays.

Now a days, X-rays are used to detect any fracture in the human body, and also in the security checks to check for any weapons. The use of X-rays are limited as they are harmful to the human body causing disintegration of DNA and hence cancers may be precipitated. Terahertz rays or T-rays are considered harmless, that is, they do not predispose the human body to cancers and hence can be used freely. This benefit also applies at the security checks at any airports or public places where T-rays would reflect on any weapons and can be detected easily. For that matter, T-rays have an additional benefit of detecting even plastic objects which often go undetected in X-ray. Scientists' also claim that T-rays can tell the material of the item which is reflected, as it uses a technique called spectroscopy. In this new technology, every item would be reflected in a different colour, so making out a particular item as harmful is easy.

T- rays are not required to be used close to the scanned item, as in the case of X-rays. It can be safely kept at a distance and scanning is done. A lot of research is going on to enhance the capacity of T-rays to use the spectroscopy at a distance.

The possibilities of T-rays are several. They can be used in the pharmacology industry to aid in detection of the contents of the medicines, used to detect tumors in a human body, aid in detecting any defect in the machines. These are just a few of the benefits.

With a lot of benefits under its collar, one wonders what these T-rays are?

They are part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and one area which has been less studied till now. The band width of the T-rays can be between 500gigahertz and 10 terahertz.

Studies have been going on to analyze T-rays, recently particle accelerators have been used to break up the rays and study them.

New technology are being developed to contain the T-rays and direct them accordingly. Also a cost effective method of production need to be developed. The use of synchtron to bend the electrons and produce T-rays is under research. There are still concerns of cost and cooling of the rays, and the size which is important. In addition to these, creation of a continuous wave of T-rays is a challenge the scientists are facing as when T-rays were generated in pulses, it was seen that the bandwidth decreases with distance.

So, how can this be done? Experiments are going on to see whether using two infra red laser machines can be used. The rays produced by the two machines combine to produce a T-ray. A new machine with indium-gallium-arsenide is under consideration.

Also a new technology called Quantum Cascade laser was developed in 1994, which produced rays even in the terahertz range. The wavelengths produced were directly related to the thickness of the semiconductor, which was the reason for success of these lasers. The working of the laser is as follows. An electron is put into the machine which goes to a level and shake up the protons, then fall into another level, emitting phonons. This cycle is repeated and a ray of phonons are produced.

Once the item is detected, a reflection image has to be produced as well. Experiments are going on to produce a detector to create images which can be easily captured by a video camera and reproduced.

There are defects in this new technology as well. But the positive factors are more than the negative factors, so this new technology would be of real help in detecting a lot of security threats.

By Amit Samantaray

Variable Frequency Transformers

With Variable Frequency Transformer power transfer can be done smoothly without noise.

America cannot produce all the power it drinks. It has to get help from its neighbouring countries like Mexico to satisfy her. So power transfer between two grids must take place.

Circuits employing semi conductor devices were used for this purpose. But there is a problem. The power flowing in grid is in the form of AC-alternating current. This AC cannot be controlled using semiconductors. For that purpose we convert the AC to DC-Direct Current. Using the circuits we can alter any parameters of the power such as amplitude, frequency, phase etc. After that, DC is converted back to AC, ie we synthesize AC. But this AC is not as good as natural AC. The problem is harmonic distortions. As we change DC to AC a spike appears at each pulse, which is a noise and is undesired, but hard to eliminate.

With the help of new technology, VFT-Variable Frequency Transformers can do this. Variable Frequency Transformers can convert this power to and from grids without converting the power into DC thus eliminating the harmonic distortions. Another advantage with VFT is that we can have infinite phase shifts between the two powers where as in conventional devices we could have only few predefined phase shifts.

Even though VFTs employs latest technology, someone looking at the Variable Frequency Transformer will recognize it as a hydro generator. In fact AEP-American Electric Power, who has currently installed a VFT between Mexico-US grid, buys it from the same manufacturers who makes standard hydro generators.

Although Variable Frequency Transformers looks like a hydro generator, it seems like VFT has hydrophobia. There is not a drop of water involved here, although it is a hydro generator. The rotor of the Variable Frequency Transformer, is a big three phase electro-magnet which is connected to one grid and the stator, another three phase winding, a stationary winding which is connected to the other grid. When power starts to flow, the phase difference between stator and rotor cause the motor to rotate. The rotor shaft is connected to another motor, called a control motor. We apply torque on the shaft and can rotate the motor in any direction and the direction of the motor determines the direction of power flow. The Variable Frequency Transformer is like a phase shifter having infinitesimally small steps.

 By Amit Samantaray

What the World Will Look Like by 2050

A Brief History of the Future: A Brave and Controversial Look at the Twenty-First Century

By Jacques Attali

The Gist:
Imagine a world where pirates run amok, blowing themselves up in European city centres; where wars are ignited over lack of drinking water; where a global face-off between Islam and Christianity makes World War II look like a water-balloon fight. According to economist and political scientist Jacques Attali, that is what the future has in store for us by 2025. In the belief that past experiences are indicative future events, Attali combs through the history of human kind, all the way back to Homo Habilis, separating the past into nine distinct periods to isolate "what is possible, what changes and what is unvarying" and applies those trends to the coming century. Attali's predictions range from the future of journalism (completely paperless) to the end of the economic crisis (around 2011), offering a glimpse into the future that is both provocative and petrifying.

Highlight Reel:
On the future of the American empire: "After a very long struggle and in the midst of a serious ecological crisis, the still dominant empire- the United States- will finally be defeated around 2035 by the same globalization of the markets (particularly the financial ones), and by the power of corporations. Financially and politically exhausted, like all other empires before it, the United States will cease to run the world. But it will remain the planet's major power; no new empire or dominant nation will replace it. The world will temporarily become polycentric with a dozen or so regional powers managing its affairs."

On the future of the climate: "With the marked increase in temperature changes, very important alterations will take place in nature. Trees will grow faster and will become more fragile... Much more serious: many more coastlines could become uninhabitable. Seven of the worlds biggest cities are ports, and a third of the world's population lives on a coastline... Eco-exiles will become ten times more numerous by 2050."

On the future of weapons of mass destruction: "Now pointed at Japan, North Korea's missiles will one day target the United States and China. The missiles of Pakistan fallen into the hands of fundamentalists will threaten first India, then Europe. Those of Hezbollah — in other words, Iran — that now target Israel will one day be pointed at Cairo, Riyadh, Algiers, Tunis, Casablanca, Istanbul, then at Rome, Madrid, London and Paris. Should the battle lines harden and the country be threatened with annihilation, China's missiles could one day target Japan and the United States."

On the future of cloning: "After repairing diseased organs, they will want to produce them, then create replacement bodies. First they will produce lineages of stem cells without destroying the embryo, which will make genetic therapy ethically acceptable, and then reproductive cloning. Finally they will manufacture the human being like a made-to-measure artifact, in an artificial uterus, which will allow the brain to further develop with characteristics chosen in advance. The human being will thus have become a commercial object."

The Lowdown:
As the cofounder and first president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Attali won fame for calling the U.S. financial collapse as early as 2006 — giving him more credibility than the average soothsayer. However, many of his predictions range from the absurd to the, well... predictable. His belief that Israel must keep its status as a regional power in order to survive is not exactly rocket science, while his belief that a utopia of altruistic "transhumans" will emerge from the ashes of mid-21st century planetary warfare is a bit hard to swallow.

His more outrageous predictions notwithstanding, Attali correctly notes that our future is not inevitable. Mankind must learn how to appropriately respond to the crises and opportunities that await us, and grow cognizant of the fact that large-scale violence can be so dangerous to humanity so that we become "aware of the need for a radical change in attitude." Whether his predictions are worth taking seriously or not, they all inevitably turn on the endless capacity of human resilience — a notion that appears to be the only true constant for the future, and the most reassuring.

Drag Tabs from Google Chrome to Firefox

You can drag any link directly from Chrome to a new tab in Firefox, or the other way around. You can drag tabs from Firefox directly into Chrome as a new tab, but you can't do the same from Chrome to Firefox—unless you drag the bookmark from the tab instead.

When you want to open a Firefox tab in Chrome, you can simply drag the tab right over to Chrome—but to open a Chrome tab in Firefox, you need to grab the star icon and drag instead. The same thing works for both bookmarks and links—in fact, you can grab the link from one browser and drop it on the bookmarks bar of the other.

 

It's not exactly rocket science, but it's a useful tip for anybody both browsers on a regular basis. If you want to take your Chrome skills to the next level, be sure and check out the power user's guide to Google Chrome.