First carrier-grade WiFi spot goes live

Internet Solutions and AlwaysOn this month launched the first of many carrier-grade WiFi solutions at Cradlestone Mall, a new development in Mogale city.The companies plan to roll-out nationwide to other key high-density retail environments within the next 12 months, as well as transport hubs like airports. In a statement, they say, carrier-grade WiFi is set to "revolutionise the mobile computing experience for end-users".Hayden Lamberti, business unit manager for Enterprise Mobility at Internet Solutions, says carrier-grade Wi-Fi has the capacity to cope with the large data volumes commonly associated with high-density public locations like malls and transport hubs, while still enabling the consumption of rich media content like video, video chat, voice over IP, content sharing, social media and augmented reality."Users of carrier-grade Wi-Fi will be able to access rich media content, or data intensive enterprise applications while on the go, in a way that wasn't previously possible on standard public Wi-Fi."For retail environments like Cradlestone Mall, this has the potential to open up a world of immersive, interactive shopping experiences for customers, and it will also allow them to share their experiences online in the most efficient and cost effective manner. Business users, on the other hand, will benefit from a high speed, reliable connection back into the company network to conduct faster, more efficient business while on the move," Lamberti says.The companies have a pipeline of additional retail sites that we will be launching very soon, says Lamberti. He expects all feasible retail and transport hub locations to be equipped with this solution in the next nine to 12 months.

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A million Wi-Fi enabled devices isn’t cool, you know what’s cool? A billion Wi-Fi enabled devices.

It is predicted that there will be over 7 billion new Wi-Fi enabled devices in the world in the next 3 years.

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Satechi Smart Travel Router – super cool travel adapter, USB charger and WiFi genius in one

The new Satechi Smart Travel Router works with almost 150 national electrical socket layouts. It has an AC outlet and a 2.1A USB outlet for charging electrical devices (beefy enough for tablets too, note). But the best thing about this particular device is it also serves as a portable Wi-Fi router, repeater (to extend the range of your current Wi-Fi router), an access point, or a wireless adapter for your non Wi-Fi devices. Now that’s what we call useful.

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PCTEL Launches Compact Dual-Band WiFi Antenna Products

a leader in simplifying wireless and site solutions for private and public networks, announced today the release of two new dual-band WiFi antennas designed to provide outstanding performance for critical wireless communications. These innovative, low-profile antennas can be mounted on any surface, making them convenient for a variety of industrial wireless, fleet management, healthcare, and other wireless networking applications.Process automation and other industrial wireless applications require reliable communications between sensors and wireless access points to ensure proper functioning of the system. Reliable dual-band performance is essential to keep data flowing, and antennas must also be designed to fit into tight spaces. Since most sensor housings and access point enclosures are made of plastic or fiberglass materials, only a true dipole no ground plane design will provide consistent performance. This design requirement also applies to access points deployed in other industries, as well as use on other non-metallic surfaces such as medical carts and the roofs of some vehicles.PCTEL has engineered the WLP2458NGP and BMHOD2458IP dual band antennas for consistent performance in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands under a wide variety of mounting conditions. They are compatible with SISO and MIMO systems, including those that meet 802.11a, ac, b, e, g, and n WiFi and 802.15.4 industrial wireless standards. Using PCTEL's advanced test environment that includes anechoic chambers and network analyzers, both antennas were tested while mounted on both conductive and non-conductive materials, including actual chassis of some of the radios on which they will be used in the field. Under all conditions, the antennas maintained excellent performance in both frequency bands.

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Marble WiFi router lets you grow a small plant on its surface

As technology ever-encroaches into our daily lives, it can be harder to stop and smell the flowers, both literally and figuratively. The Consortium for Slower Internet is aware of such an issue, and wants to make you aware of it, too, via its marble and wood router. With this router, which to the naked eye appears to be an organic brick with a couple antennas coming out the rear, you can grow a small plant that serves as a reminder to unplug every so often and enjoy nature.

The router is called the Cybernetic Meadow router, and is built upon the more conventional TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 router, which is decidedly more shiny and made of plastic. The router is a square of marble with a shallow depressed circle in the middle and a wood base, and for the earthy green-centric gadget, you’ll be shelling out $350 USD. With that comes some nice specifications, however, so you won’t be sacrificing Internet speed in the Consortium’s desire to see you slow down

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B.C. entrepreneur invents energy saving sensor

Neurio connects to WIFI networks and tracks energy consumption by all the appliances running in your home, sending real-time update reports to any personal devices connected to the WIFI network.

“The way that appliances use energy happens in a really unique way. Kind of like a signature or a fingerprint,” says Cheam.

The software reads that fingerprint and assists users see exactly what appliances or electrical devices are using energy at any given time.

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The Unstoppable MetaGeek - now with CleanAir!

Rarely does such an organization come around that expresses it’s agility and prowess with as much regularity as MetaGeek. The most recently of which is their ability to use Chanalyzer Pro (their premium Spectrum Analyzer software) to talk to the Cognio chipset in a Cisco CleanAir Access Point. PC based Spectrum Analyzers have had a sordid history to say the least. Way back when, Cognio made what you would call ‘the best of the best’ PC based Spectrum Analyzer. This took the place of many of the bulkier, more expensive Spectrum Analyzers and proved to the world that a) it was important to get Layer 1 visibility for enterprise WLANs and b) that they could make it affordable for most services based partners. Everyone OEM’d the Cognio analyzer, AirMagnet, Fluke, and WildPackets. Along came Cisco. They purchased Cognio, killed off all of the OEM agreements, rolled the hardware into their Access Points, and started selling the Cognio product with the Cisco name on it (Cisco Spectrum Expert). Unfortunately, they didn’t do much with the CardBus product and let the non-AP components stale. The aging interface form factor left quite a few holes in the market and along came a few people here and there to make it all shake out like this (generally):

• Cisco Spectrum Expert: Highest resolution, CleanAir AP and CardBus form factor, Cognio based


• AirMagnet Spectrum XT: Middle resolution, USB form factor, bandspeed based


• AP based Spectrum Analyzers: Low resolution, integrated into many APs, Atheros based


• MetaGeek Wi-Spy: Low resolution, USB form factor, keyboard controller based

Ryan and team over at MetaGeek did an excellent job of using very affordable components to give us an alternative to the aging CardBus adapter and the newer, more expensive AirMagnet adapter. They were an awesome product for the money but never really achieved huge market penetration due to the fact that the Cognio and bandspeed products still offered higher resolution. With the Cognio hardware all locked up in the Cisco Access Points, it seemed inevitable that we’d never have a good way to access it. Imagine our surprise when at this years Cisco Live event, MetaGeek was there – showing off their integration between Chanalyzer and the CleanAir Access Points! Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the *exact* same Cognio hardware, high resolution Spectrum Analyzer goodness that we all know and love from the old days. When I first heard about this, there was much trepidation about MetaGeek perhaps not being able to address the ‘full power’ of the Cognio (ahem, CleanAir) chip in its rawest form, but I’m here to tell you, when compared side by side with a legacy CardBus based Cognio adapter, the data is identical! The user interface is the updated, Chanalyzer interface with all of the modern enhancements they’ve made over the years with the WiSpy products, but you’re using the high-fidelity data that Cognio gives us.

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Wi-Fi(delity) in a Smaller Sonos

In the market for high-quality wireless speakers that stream music digitally, Sonos has been a gold standard. Its products produce sterling sound, need no wiring or professional installation and are controlled by apps on computers, tablets and smartphones. They can be used alone, or several can be networked together to form a whole-house system.

But Sonos products have been relatively expensive, ranging between $300 and $700 for a single speaker, plus $50 for a “bridge” device that plugs into your home Internet router to make the speakers’ wireless network function. And its speakers have typically been large and heavy.

Now, the Santa Barbara, Calif., company has come out with a lower-priced, smaller model that preserves its quality sound and its modular, wireless connection system. Like its larger siblings, it works with a handsome Sonos app on Macs, PCs, iPhones, iPads and Android phones and tablets to stream music either from those devices, or from the cloud via services like Pandora, Amazon and Spotify.

I’ve been testing the new $199 Sonos Play:1 and I really like it, despite a couple of downsides that Sonos is working on fixing. I found it easy to set up and use. I loved the crisp, rich sound it produced, which easily filled a large room without being at maximum volume. Sonos is even throwing in the bridge device free with the Play:1.

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Wi-Fi offload powering a fifth of extra mobile data capacity

Tier one mobile operators believe Wi-Fi offload will provide 22 per cent of all additional data capacity during 2013 and 2014, according to a report published by the Wireless Broadband Alliance.The research found that by 2018, Wi-Fi offload will continue to make a similar contribution (20 per cent of additional mobile data capacity), with another 21 per cent coming from small cells integrated with Wi-Fi.Data offload currently accounts for an average of 20 per cent of a mobile operator’s data traffic but this rises to 80 per cent in densely populated areas such as transport hubs and cafes. Offload levels in homes and businesses are between 50 and 60 per cent.Just over half of the 197 respondents — the majority of which were operators (either mobile or fixed operators, as well as wireless ISPs and pure-play Wi-Fi providers) — said they are more confident about investing in Wi-Fi to supplement cellular networks than they were a year ago.This confidence is attributed to an increase in hotspot deployments and more ambitious business plans from some operators. Maravedis-Rethink, the research company that compiled the research, forecast that 10.8 million hotspots will be deployed in 2018, compared to 5.2 million in 2012.Of the respondents planning to launch a next-generation hotspot network, data offload was cited as the most pressing driver for investment.The European Commission recommended in August that more spectrum be set aside for Wi-Fi to ease pressure on 3G and 4G networks.Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, has also warned there will be a growing demand for Wi-Fi capacity with it becoming “increasingly difficult” to find significant amounts of additional spectrum that can be fully cleared for Wi-Fi and mobile broadband.In February, Cisco forecast a 13-fold growth in mobile data between 2012 and 2017, with 46 per cent of traffic offloaded to fixed or Wi-Fi networks by 2017 compared with 33 per cent in 2012.

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Xirrus Delivers First-in-Industry Solution for High-Density Outdoor Wi-Fi Connectivity

Xirrus, the leading provider of high-performance wireless networks, today announced the XR-2425H Array for delivering robust wireless connectivity in outdoor and other public areas with high densities of users and devices. The XR-2425H is the only 4-radio outdoor 802.11n Array, ensuring optimal performance with 1.2Gbps of total Wi-Fi capacity while lowering system TCO by reducing equipment, cabling, installation, and maintenance requirements.

"With the ever-increasing number of mobile devices in public venues of all types, including stadiums, arenas, racing tracks, convention centers, and malls, organizations of all types are discovering that they must provide wireless connectivity to meet the service expectations of visitors," said Bruce Miller, vice president of product marketing at Xirrus. "The high cost of providing and maintaining outdoor Wi-Fi solutions, however, has often prevented venues from implementing the necessary wireless capability. This is the exact problem that the XR-2425H addresses and solves."

The XR-2425H includes four 300Mbps 11n radios in an environmentally hardened IP65-compliant enclosure. The XR-2425H is based on the same distributed architecture as the rest of the Xirrus XR product line with an integrated controller, software programmable radios, Application Control providing visibility and policy management of over 1200 applications, and cloud or on-premise management via the Xirrus Management System (XMS). Each radio has two RP-TNC connectors supporting a variety of directional and omni-directional antennas to customize the coverage based on deployment needs. With four radios, as opposed to two found on most outdoor products today, the XR-2425H supports higher client densities per Array, thereby reducing the amount of equipment required per deployment while delivering robust Wi-Fi connectivity. PoE+ power support enables integration with existing power infrastructure.

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The new era for ScotRail: faster services, cheaper tickets, and wi-fi access

Peak-time ticket prices pegged to inflation and improvements to wi-fi access will also be required as part of the contract, the Scottish Government's Transport Scotland agency said.

The new franchise - which is the single biggest contract awarded by the Government - is due to begin in 2015, lasting for up to 10 years.

Transport minister Keith Brown has revealed the details of the franchise, setting out the requirements which must be met by the winning bidder.

These include faster services to connect Scotland's cities, including new trains to deliver 42-minute services between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and accelerated services to Stirling, Perth, Dundee, Inverness and Aberdeen.

Trains will be improved with wifi and more comfortable carriages for longer journeys while "scenic" trains will be used to promote tourist routes, featuring locally-sourced catering and panoramic views.

Other measures in the new franchise include more cycle space, provisions for disabled passengers to travel with the minimum of advance notice and SMARTcard tickets across the network.

Smartcards store and read tickets electronically, similar to the Oyster Card system used in London.

Mr Brown said: "Improving the passenger experience has been at the heart of our considerations for the next franchise and the specification I have set out is focused on innovation, connectivity, value and benefit for communities throughout Scotland.

"Unlike previous Department for Transport-led procurements which have focused on price, the ScotRail franchise competition includes a heavy emphasis on quality. Bidders for this franchise must commit to ambitious improvements if they want to win.

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ConnectSense offers Wi-Fi only sensors ... for a pretty penny

As people attempt to connect their homes, different protocols post a challenge. Some vendors, like ConnectSense, are doing away with that drama by embracing only Wi-Fi....ConnectSense is one, and last week it launched the ConnectSense brand (the company behind it is Grid Connect, a ten-year-old industrial sensor seller) and a series of sensors that include video, motion detection, humidity and more. There’s also a web-based interface and plans for an app. As usual, the company plans to integrate with other offerings and services so its sensors could tie into your web services or even help control other connected devices.A sensor set up to tell you if someone is in the bathroom.A sensor set up to tell you if someone is in the bathroom.What’s significant about this product is the fact that it eschews other protocols and sticks solely to Wi-Fi. In that, ConnectSense joins the recent line of GE and Quirky products in embracing the in-home Wi-Fi network. The downside of using Wi-Fi over other protocols such as Z-wave or ZigBee is that it tends to suck a lot of power, which requires frequent battery changes. However, Adam Justice of ConnectSense, says his company’s sensors last for three years on four batteries.

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Dubai thinks big with plan to turn itself into a wi-fi connected smart city

Its biggest announcement is a project being driven by Dubai's ruling Sheikh, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and called Dubai Smart City. He wants pervasive wireless across the city. In a series of tweets, he said: "We launched a new project to transform Dubai into a smart city. Education, healthcare and general security will be managed via smart systems. The project aims to provide all Dubai residents with high-speed internet in public places, and live services and information."The project will be executed over a number of phases and is being overseen by one of the Sheikh's sons, Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed. It will enable people to use government services online, in particular to manage education, healthcare and security via smart systems, whenever and wherever they are in Dubai.It will be achieved via sensors placed throughout the city, although plans are in their early stages, so no indication has been given on what technology will underpin it or if the service will be free. There will also be access to sites run by airlines, shopping malls, restaurants, hotels and banks, although it is not clear yet whether the hotspots will allow for open internet access.A whole city wirelessly connected for free to the internet is an ambitious project and it will be interesting to see if this extends beyond the urbanised areas into the desert and sparsely populated areas. The difference today when a government talks about connected cities compared to over the past decade is that many citizens are now connected, due to the proliferation of 3G. But in this instance, Dubai is really targeting an anytime, anywhere model for its services, and giving people the choice of accessing them without chewing up their data packages.Online government services have been pushed in past years at Gitex, but now there is a coherence and more obvious usefulness to the services being promoted

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Video : The EyeFi ProX2

The Eye-Fi card boasts several features/abilities; Wireless upload of pictures to the service of your choice Wireless upload of videos to the service of your choice WiFi compatibility with your home network and various hotspots and waypoints Geotagging (automatic location tagging if enabled in your camera) of photosSet up was a snap. The included card reader (one time use only) was put into the an available USB port of 2 different computers, including Desktop with Windows 8.1 Macbook AirIt was true plug and play, and in each instance the Eye-Fi manager was installed automatically and subsequently came up on insertion into a card reader. You can use the included card reader, but it is only required for the first use and initial configurationOnce you select your services (author selected Flickr and Facebook) and configure your WiFi settings, you are ready to go.All you need now is an SDHC enabled camera such as the ones by Pentax. This is the simple part of the testing. All you need to do is snap some pictures and take some video. Then once you are at a WiFi Hotspot or Waypoint, or even your home WiFi network, simply power the camera on and let the uploads begin. They are automatic and you will even get an email or sms message (if you set it up that way) when it is done. The beauty of this card is that once initial setup has been completed, you no longer need the included card reader nor a computer. All you have to do is be within the vicinity of Wifi and you are all set.

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An update on 802.11ac clients

There’s quite a bit of excitement around 802.11ac. It’s not only the latest wireless standard, but recently more devices have added support for it, spreading and accelerating the adoption of gigabit WiFi.A survey of devices earlier this year showed a handful of them supported 802.11ac, especially higher end smartphones. Recently, more smartphones have added support, and importantly, Apple’s refresh of the Macbook Pro and Macbook Air added 802.11ac to their popular line. Here’s a summary of recently introduced clients that support 802.11ac.

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Colleges begin to get a taste of ‘Super Wi-Fi’

So-called “Super Wi-Fi,” a new kind of wireless broadband, got a boost Thursday with the announcement that the technology would become available to hundreds of US colleges and universities.

Declaration Networks, a company working with colleges and non-profit groups, said it is now starting to offer the service to 500 schools around the United States.

The technology is often referred to as “Super Wi-Fi,” although some wireless providers point out it uses a different frequency for transmission than what most people use in cafes and in home networks.

The service uses “white spaces” or unused portions of the spectrum that is generally available for local television broadcasts.

This wireless technology offers a bigger range than existing hotspots, is being deployed in the United States and generating interest in a number of countries, including Britain and Brazil.

Declaration has been working with a consortium of higher education institutions and nonprofits called AIR.U, whose members are interested in improving high-speed wireless access, particularly in rural and other underserved areas.

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Cardiff chooses BT for free Wi-Fi project

Cardiff City Council today announced it will partner with BT to provide a free Wi-Fi network in the capital.



The roll-out will initially focus on the busiest tourism, retail and leisure facilities in Cardiff to serve the city's 1.4 million residents, several hundred businesses and annual 19 million visitors.

hotspot_sign_building.jpg



Phase one will bring connectivity to Gorsedd Gardens Road (covering the area around City Hall), Queen Street, The Hayes, the High Street and St Mary Street. It will then be extended in its second phase to the Cardiff Bay area, with all the work due to complete by Spring 2014.



Cabinet member for finance and economic development, Russell Goodway, said: “These wireless technologies will add to the ongoing investment in fibre broadband that BT is making across Cardiff and give the city a real competitive edge when it comes to attracting new visitors and businesses.”

More on BT Wi-Fi



Case study: Birmingham rolls out free public Wi-Fi

Young’s signs Wi-Fi deal with BT

O2 ends Wi-Fi partnership with BT

Mobile operators ready to embrace Wi-Fi



The project is part of the Super Connected Cities scheme announced by the Chancellor in his 2012 budget. Cardiff was awarded £7m of the £100m fund put forward by central government to build ultrafast fixed broadband access and large areas of public wireless connectivity across the city.



However, BT told us the deal is a concession agreement. This means BT will pay for the installation and manage the network for 10 years in exchange for exclusive access to lamp posts and other street furniture, rather than the council paying it for the work.



BT will then offer the network on a wholesale basis to mobile operators who may wish to use it to boost 3G and 4G signals across the city.



While the network is said to be free for the public, there is a timeframe on this if you are not a BT customer.



“Initially, access to the Cardiff Council Wi-Fi service will be free and unlimited to all, while BT Broadband customers will always be able to get free, unlimited usage,” read a statement from BT.

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Wireless Witch: How to Place a Wireless Extender

Sometimes, in order to boost a wireless signal to cover all the corners of your home or office, you have to bite the bullet and invest in a wireless extender (although you can try your hand at making one, if you are so inclined— see "Wireless Witch: DIY Wireless Extenders Put to the Test" for steps).

Wireless extenders (also called wireless repeaters) wirelessly connect to an existing router and can lengthen the range of the wireless signal (repeating it) by re-broadcasting the signal. They are used to cover wireless "dead zones."

It is important to note that while extenders can extend your range, they can also halve your throughput. I suggest if you are having problems with wireless coverage, you should go for a dual-band router. Most extenders work with the longer-range 2.4GHz band. You want to pair the extender with the 2.4GHz band and reserve that band for lighter throughput tasks such as Web browsing or checking email. Keep the 5GHz band reserved for wireless devices that stream multimedia or connect to gaming consoles, smart TVs…anything that is throughput-intensive.

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Want an Aerohive AP? Check the Apple Store!

Apple has agreed to sell Aerohive access points on their online stores, both in the US and Europe.In this iEverything world, Wi-Fi is the primary access layer and an essential part of the user experience. Often it doesn’t matter how powerful, beautiful, or state-of-the-art the device is, if the network cannot provide reliable access to the applications that make those devices so appealing. One of the most common problems facing device vendors these days is negative reactions to the devices themselves because of poor network access. For example, “Oh, this iPad doesn’t work at all!” What the user most often means is, “I can’t get reliable access to the app I’m using.” It’s reactions like these that led to one of the most exciting partnership announcements in the Wi-Fi industry - our expanded relationship with Apple. We’ve been working with Apple for a while now providing enterprise-class Wi-Fi access, especially in schools where they recently announced they hold a record-shattering 94% of the tablet market share*. We’re super proud of the progress we’ve made optimizing access to applications and zero-configuration services for the plethora of Apple devices showing up in schools, retailers, and enterprises.

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Wi-Fi to play dominant role in US$25 billion smart appliance market, says ABI Research

The smart home appliance market, defined by products with built-in connectivity, will witness substantial growth over the next five years, reaching nearly US$25 billion by 2018. Currently limited to the top-end luxury models, wireless connectivity will slowly permeate to lower tier vendors and models, according to ABI Research.

ABI Research senior analyst Adarsh Krishnan said, "Smart home appliances have yet to incorporate features that add significant value for their premium price. Smart home appliance features are at present limited to remote access through mobile devices. The true value of these smart grid ready devices, such as use in demand-response energy management programs, is several years away and initially will be primarily US-based."

North America remains the most lucrative market which has seen the fastest growth in the uptake of the smart appliances and is expected to see revenues in excess of US$500 million in 2013. China's booming luxury market along with more mature markets such as Japan, South Korea, and Australia will drive growth in the APAC region for smart home appliances at a five year CAGR of 92%.

Wi-Fi is preferred by appliance manufacturers for wireless connectivity which will see over 21 million Wi-Fi enabled appliances shipped worldwide in 2018, the firm said. High penetration of Wi-Fi networks in residential households and its ability to easily add devices to the home area network without additional bridges or controllers are seen as a key advantage. However, partly due to Wi-Fi's higher energy consumption, other connectivity technologies such as ZigBee, Z-Wave, and Bluetooth will slowly gain share of the smart appliance market, noted ABI Research.

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Podcast : High Density Design (Sponsored)

Welcome to another episode of the NSA Show, this is part of the 802.11ac series with Cisco. On this episode we talk with Jim Florwick from Cisco where we discuss some of the concerns with high density designs. We also toook a look back at the past Cisco Live US 2013 in Orlando and reviewed some of the design elements that Cisco Advanced Services put into play to provide connectivity to the thousands of attendees present. Enjoy the show!

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Chinese professor builds Li-Fi system with retail parts

The equipment is big and expensive, with the research costs at almost $500,000. But by just using retail components, Chinese professor Chi Nan has built her own Li-Fi wireless system that can use LED lights to send and receive Internet data.

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Fact or fiction: What affects Wi-Fi speed?

Believe it or not, there was a time not long ago when surfing the Internet from your back porch required a very, very long ethernet cable. These days Wi-Fi seems to be everywhere, with inkjet printers, digital cameras, TVs, and even refrigerators connecting to home and office networks without the need for cables.But for all of the gains made in Wi-Fi technology, much confusion remains about wireless networks and the problems that can plague them. To help clear up some of the confusion, we gathered a list of common beliefs about Wi-Fi speed and set about proving or disproving them using the tools available to us here in the Macworld lab.

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Vibrating micro plates bring order to overcrowded radio spectrum

....Researchers at the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology have taken an important step with a new type of filter, based on micromechanics. They have published their finding in Applied Physics Letters.Filters that can be accurately tuned to the frequency band you want to receive as a user are becoming increasingly important. Otherwise, if a nearby signal is much stronger, it drowns out the signal you want to receive. The number of available frequencies is limited, so it is becoming ever busier. Intelligent use of the airwaves, by utilising every available piece, is becoming more important. The filters now presented by the researchers are based on micromechanical resonators and can be accurately tuned to the desired frequency.One of the reasons for choosing a mechanical solution is that the conventional filter consists of an inductor and a capacitor, an 'LC circuit'. Especially a good quality inductor is hard to achieve on a chip. The result would be: separate LC circuits for each frequency band, mounted outside the chip, which would take up too much space. New solutions are already being sought all over the world. The current standard is the electromechanical filter called Surface Acoustic Wave filter, but this, too, requires too much space if you need several of them.....The solution presented by the researchers consists of two mechanical resonators. They vibrate at an adjustable frequency thanks to the piezoelectric material PZT. This material is applied to metal. Normally, the piezoelectric material vibrates perpendicular to the metal and the thickness of the layer determines the frequency. However,the frequency can be varied by making it vibrate in the same direction as the metal. Two resonators are used, which are not connected mechanically or electrically. By means of the intelligent handling of the input and output signals of the two resonators, adverse 'parasitic' effects are negated. This is done by subtracting the output signals, while the input signals are 'in phase'. The result is a selective filter -- fourth order -- that passes a limited part of the band and weakens the frequencies above and below. It can be accurately tuned with the vibrating frequencies of the two resonators. The filter presented by the researchers in Applied Physics Letters, operates at about 400 Megahertz. That is still too low for mobile applications, but new versions already reach higher frequencies, and Gigahertz frequencies needed for smartphones are feasible, according to the researchers.

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Meraki mobile app now available for Android

The Android version keeps the same spirit of the iOS app: it extends the Meraki dashboard experience, optimizing it for mobile devices and giving it a familiar look and feel. Just like the iOS version, it enables multi-site management of Meraki wireless networks through monitoring of wireless infrastructure, summarized information about network traffic and client devices, and faster WiFi deployments by allowing adding of new access points to a network right from the app. The app supports Android versions 4.1.1 and newer.

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