Patrick Nelson
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Patrick Nelson
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Li-Fi gets office-install at Philips lighting
Broadband data-over-light, sent through lighting fixtures commonly seen in commercial buildings, moves a step closer to possible mass adoption through an apparently functioning smart-office installation in Paris.Li-Fi uses light waves for data communications, as opposed to Wi-Fi, which uses microwave radio. Li-Fi has 10,000 times Wi-Fi radio’s RF spectrum, experts say. The pilot installation by Philips is at a French real-estate company’s office.Philips Lighting, the giant lighting-system maker, says it is now offering Li-Fi modems installed within its existing LED luminaires, such as its downlighters. A luminaire is the building-industry term for a complete lighting fixture.To read this article in full, please click here
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Future wireless networks will have no capacity limits
In what may turn out to be a precursor to the demise of wired connections, a scientist claims that ultimately, wireless networks won’t have a capacity ceiling.Researchers have generally thought there was a maximum to the amount of data that could be sent within certain bandwidths, spaces and over a period, even using the best antennas. However, massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) antennas will provide for unlimited and thus vast streams of data to be communicated over the airwaves, says Emil Björnson and his fellow researchers at Swedish Linköping University. He says his group has discovered that capacity limit calculations used for the new antennas, expected to be used widely in 5G, are wrong.To read this article in full, please click here
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New tech harvests electricity out of thin air
Ambient temperature changes, which take place natively in the environment, could power Internet of Things (IoT) sensors indefinitely, say researchers.The remarkable concept, which the inventors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) call thermal resonating, is highly flexible — unlike previous scientific attempts at developing similar things.It essentially harvests electricity out of thin air, the group claims. No batteries or solar panel-requiring sunlight is needed.To read this article in full, please click here
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Companies ready to spend on IT hardware again
In-house IT hardware spending has been on hold thanks to executives flip-flopping on whether to move to cloud computing. It hasn't been because they've actually shifted to cloud services.The problem has been merely inertia caused in companies by "decision-making around the cloud," says Morgan Stanley in a new financial research note published this week. The financial services firm suggests that once enterprises complete their cloud assessments, their checkbooks will open once more.Also read: Top 10 data center predictions: IDC In fact, Morgan Stanley, which advises people on industry investments, says investors could see double-digit earnings growth from the IT hardware sector in 2018. And it has upgraded its fiscal view from "cautious" to "attractive."To read this article in full, please click here
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Companies ready to spend on IT hardware again
In-house IT hardware spending has been on hold thanks to executives flip-flopping on whether to move to cloud computing. It hasn't been because they've actually shifted to cloud services.The problem has been merely inertia caused in companies by "decision-making around the cloud," says Morgan Stanley in a new financial research note published this week. The financial services firm suggests that once enterprises complete their cloud assessments, their checkbooks will open once more.Also read: Top 10 data center predictions: IDC In fact, Morgan Stanley, which advises people on industry investments, says investors could see double-digit earnings growth from the IT hardware sector in 2018. And it has upgraded its fiscal view from "cautious" to "attractive."To read this article in full, please click here
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IoT: Sensor-as-a-service, run by blockchain, is coming
Telecommunications equipment maker Nokia has launched a turnkey, sensor-as-a-service offering for Internet of Things (IoT) networks.The idea behind the product is to provide a way for mobile network operators (MNOs), many of which use Nokia cell site equipment, to monetize existing infrastructure, such as towers, by selling live environmental sensor data to cities and others.Read also: When IoT met blockchain | Sign up: Receive daily tech news updates MNOs increasingly are looking for new revenue sources as consumer smartphone growth plateaus. And cities need to adopt digital strategies to manage assets, increase efficiencies, and keep stakeholders happy. For example, they need granular real-time data about public transportation flow and air quality to ensure they comply with regulations—that the traffic is flowing and no illegal garbage is burning.To read this article in full, please click here
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Small wake-up receivers could extend IoT sensor life
One of the potential hindrances to ubiquitous Internet of Things (IoT) take-up is related to how one should power the possibly billions of tiny sensors promised over time. Can one expect a homeowner to change out a hundred or so coin batteries every few years in, say, a networked system, for example? That could get old fast.Also on Network World: Testing RFID IoT devices for enterprise deployment The same problem arises at an industrial level. Changing out sensor batteries in a remote installation is equally difficult to achieve, although for different reasons — you need to transport expensive people there to do it, for one thing.To read this article in full, please click here
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5G won’t cope, terahertz will provide more bandwidth
Terahertz data links promise significant advantages over existing microwave-based wireless data transmissions, and the technology will ultimately beat out the upcoming 5G millimeter frequencies if progress continues on it, researchers say.The reason for the optimism is that terahertz is more capacious than existing radio bands. It’s also less power hungry, and new technical advances are being made in it.Also read: New wireless science promises 100-times faster Wi-Fi The latest terahertz-level advance, announced this week by scientists at Brown University, is the ability to bounce the mega-bandwidth-carrying waves of energy around corners. Quashing that line-of-sight requirement introduces a level of robustness not seen before.To read this article in full, please click here
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Internet slowdowns might become a thing of the past
Internet throughput issues, prevalent in many homes, may become a thing of the past thanks to a new and inexpensive invention that copies how major internet networks perform data links between cities and countries.Scientists at University College London (UCL) say they’ve figured out how to bring down the cost of highly efficient optical transceivers so that they can be installed en masse around consumer environments.Also read: 5G wireless could change networking as we know it The receiver technology, when fully developed, will be able to provide a consistent 10,000 Mbps connection to homes and small businesses by removing a choke point that exists now at the point where fiber subscribers are connected to the ISP, the researchers claim. Average all fixed-line, download speeds in the U.S. are currently only 64 Mbps in comparison, according to a Speedtest study. Optimization should be able to increase that, though.To read this article in full, please click here
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Internet slowdowns might become a thing of the past
Internet throughput issues, prevalent in many homes, may become a thing of the past thanks to a new and inexpensive invention that copies how major internet networks perform data links between cities and countries.Scientists at University College London (UCL) say they’ve figured out how to bring down the cost of highly efficient optical transceivers so that they can be installed en masse around consumer environments.Also read: 5G wireless could change networking as we know it The receiver technology, when fully developed, will be able to provide a consistent 10,000 Mbps connection to homes and small businesses by removing a choke point that exists now at the point where fiber subscribers are connected to the ISP, the researchers claim. Average all fixed-line, download speeds in the U.S. are currently only 64 Mbps in comparison, according to a Speedtest study. Optimization should be able to increase that, though.To read this article in full, please click here
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Data could one day be stored on molecules
Billions of terabytes of data could be stored in one small flask of liquid, a group of scientists believe. The team from Brown University says soon it will be able to figure out a chemical-derived way of storing and manipulating mass-data by loading it onto molecules and then dissolving the molecules into liquids.If the method is successful, large-scale, synthetic molecule storage in liquids could one day replace hard drives. It would be a case of the traditional engineering that we’ve always pursued for storage being replaced by chemistry in our machines and data centers.Also on Network World: The future of storage: Pure Storage CEO Charlie Giancarlo shares his predictions The U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded the Brown team $4.1 million to work out how move the concept forward.To read this article in full, please click here
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Data could one day be stored on molecules
Billions of terabytes of data could be stored in one small flask of liquid, a group of scientists believe. The team from Brown University says soon it will be able to figure out a chemical-derived way of storing and manipulating mass-data by loading it onto molecules and then dissolving the molecules into liquids.If the method is successful, large-scale, synthetic molecule storage in liquids could one day replace hard drives. It would be a case of the traditional engineering that we’ve always pursued for storage being replaced by chemistry in our machines and data centers.Also on Network World: The future of storage: Pure Storage CEO Charlie Giancarlo shares his predictions The U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded the Brown team $4.1 million to work out how move the concept forward.To read this article in full, please click here
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Buildings should behave like humans
One must be able to walk into a room, including those in data centers, and not only access information about every facet of it, but also importantly, have it automatically solve all of its problems on its own.Site 1001, which specializes in artificial intelligence-run facilities management systems, says the problem should be achieved through neural networks that copy how humans and animals think.The company, a spin-off of JE Dunn Construction Co., demonstrated its all-listening, predictive building maintenance at CES 2018 last week. It says its big data, AI-driven system will ultimately produce smarter and healthier buildings.To read this article in full, please click here
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Buildings should behave like humans
One must be able to walk into a room, including those in data centers, and not only access information about every facet of it, but also importantly, have it automatically solve all of its problems on its own.Site 1001, which specializes in artificial intelligence-run facilities management systems, says the problem should be achieved through neural networks that copy how humans and animals think.The company, a spin-off of JE Dunn Construction Co., demonstrated its all-listening, predictive building maintenance at CES 2018 last week. It says its big data, AI-driven system will ultimately produce smarter and healthier buildings.To read this article in full, please click here
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Breakthroughs in magnetism will change storage and computing
If you thought storage was trending towards solid-state mediums and that magnetic drives were edging out, you may want to pause a moment. A slew of scientific breakthroughs in magnetism as it relates to storage and computing were announced last year.The multiple Eureka moments could change how we compute and perform Internet of Things and might, in one case, introduce magnet-driven neural networks — which is computing that mimics how the brain processes things.3D magnets First on the list was last November's announcement of the invention of 3D nano-magnets that shift data transfers from traditional two dimensions to three dimensions. This kind of add-on could significantly increase storage and processing functions, say its inventors at the University of Cambridge in an article published by Sinc.To read this article in full, please click here
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Breakthroughs in magnetism will change storage and computing
If you thought storage was trending towards solid-state mediums and that magnetic drives were edging out, you may want to pause a moment. A slew of scientific breakthroughs in magnetism as it relates to storage and computing were announced last year.The multiple Eureka moments could change how we compute and perform Internet of Things and might, in one case, introduce magnet-driven neural networks — which is computing that mimics how the brain processes things.3D magnets First on the list was last November's announcement of the invention of 3D nano-magnets that shift data transfers from traditional two dimensions to three dimensions. This kind of add-on could significantly increase storage and processing functions, say its inventors at the University of Cambridge in an article published by Sinc.To read this article in full, please click here
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France goes after companies for deliberately shortening life of hardware
Printer manufacturers “deliberately shorten the life of printers and cartridges,” a French environmental and consumer protection group claims. That's against the law in France, and government prosecutors have agreed to investigate the claims.If the lawsuit against the printer company, Japan-based Epson, is proven, the firm could be found guilty of breaking a little-known French law that stipulates vendors can’t purposefully lower the lifespan of a product to ramp up replacement rates.Also on Network World: Top 10 data center predictions: IDC A conviction could be significant for tech hardware manufacturing overall. Nabbing Epson would likely affect not only how hardware is built and sold in France, but it also could mean laws get adopted in other European territories —individual nations are involved in the functioning of the EU bloc overall.To read this article in full, please click here
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Artificial intelligence may not need networks at all
The advancement of edge computing, along with increasingly powerful chips, may make it possible for artificial intelligence (AI) to operate without wide-area networks (WAN).Researchers working on a project at the University of Waterloo say they can make AI adapt as computational power and memory are removed. And indeed if they can do that, it would allow the neural networks to function free of the internet and cloud — the advantages being better privacy, lower data-send costs, portability and the utilization of AI applications in geographically remote areas.The scientists say they can teach AI to learn it doesn’t need lots of resources.To read this article in full, please click here
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Artificial intelligence may not need networks at all
The advancement of edge computing, along with increasingly powerful chips, may make it possible for artificial intelligence (AI) to operate without wide-area networks (WAN).Researchers working on a project at the University of Waterloo say they can make AI adapt as computational power and memory are removed. And indeed if they can do that, it would allow the neural networks to function free of the internet and cloud — the advantages being better privacy, lower data-send costs, portability and the utilization of AI applications in geographically remote areas.The scientists say they can teach AI to learn it doesn’t need lots of resources.To read this article in full, please click here
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Data ‘tsunami’ to absorb 20% of world electricity
It’s the "Dirty Cloud," says journalist John Vidal in a recent tweet. Vidal is referring to energy use by data centers, which he wrote about in an article for Climate Home News.In the story, published this week, the Guardian environment writer reveals a bleak picture of future global climate change emissions. Bleak, in part, because the discouraging projections he writes of are caused not by, as one might expect, fossil fuel power plants and internal combustion engine users, but by communications and data center power use.To read this article in full, please click here