Connectivity, Communications & Cloud News - Page 16

Most people probably haven't even heard about MU-MIMO, but it's about to be a huge upgrade to Wi-Fi technology and speeds. We've been living with 802.11 a/b/g/n for a while, and even through the 5GHz upgrade, the overall speeds didn't leap near Gigabit, or 10GbE Ethernet.

The 'MU' in MU-MIMO stands for 'Multi-User', with it being the new Wave 2 specification of 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology. The big difference is that multiple data streams can be taken into consideration, with multiple antennas on the base station and client device blasting out data all at once. If there's four antennas on the base station, and four on your Wi-Fi card, then you can expect four streams of data simultaneously.

Anshel Sag, Staff Technologist and Technical Writer, took MU-MIMO for a spin in his research paper on MU-MIMO and 802.11ad Wi-Fi, with some interesting results. Sag reported: "In our own lab testing at Moor Insights & Strategy using off the shelf equipment at retail stores, MU-MIMO smartphones when paired with a MU-MIMO access point, experienced a 75% TCP (transmission control protocol) download performance uplift going from 260 Mbps bandwidth with three smartphones to 455 Mbps with three MUMIMO enabled smartphones. In fact, overall network bandwidth utilization actually increased as we added devices to the network, rather than decrease, which it did in the case of nonMU Wi-Fi which can partially attribute to the poor Wi-Fi performance in crowded areas".

Fujitsu has announced that it has developed a new wireless communications receiver, which is capable of massive transfer rates of up to 20 gigabits per second. The receiver is tiny enough that it will fit into a smartphone, super-powering data transfer rates.

The new chip would make smartphones and tablets capable of transferring 4K or even 8K video virtually instantly, with 8K resolution videos featuring 16x the resolution of 1080p. Fujitsu is calling its new chip the world's first compact 300GHz receiver, thanks to its insanely fast wireless communication abilities.

Fujitsu's new chip is smaller than 1 cubic centimeter, where it combines both a receiver-amplifier chip as well as a terahertz-band antenna. Because the chip has high sensitivity, transmissions ranges are much shorter - just 1m away. A Fujitsu spokesperson said: "It is the first time such a highly sensitive terahertz band receiver has been made small enough to fit into a current-generation cellular phone". The company hopes to have the chip being built commercially in 2020.

Gogo has just received approval from the FAA to offer consumers 70Mbps in-flight Wi-Fi, up from the much slower speeds of 9.8Mbps. The FAA only just this week approved the final Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) required to use it.

The new system was meant to be streaming content on planes already, but the FAA didn't provide the final STC required, but now that it has Gogo is free to offer 70Mbps Wi-Fi to its customers. Gogo has over 500 aircraft waiting on antenna upgrades, with the plan now being to have the new antennas installed by early 2016.

2Ku will be installing the new satellite antennas, where they'll also be future-proofed to work with new spot beam satellites. This upgrade is going to be huge, as it will increase the speeds from 70Mbps to 100Mbps. 100Mbps shared across a plane full of people might not seem like much, but it's better than nothing.

Semiconductor and microcontroller company Microchip Technology announced a partnership with Intel to utilize its Enhanced Privacy ID (EPID) technology in future products.

"Microchip has long recognized the importance of security in IoT applications," said Ian Harris, VP of Computing Products Group at Microchip. "Collaborating with Intel to integrate its proven Intel EPID technology demonstrates Microchip's steadfast commitment to providing the very best IoT solutions, by working to enable designers with the safe and secure interoperation of their 'things' with Intel's devices, gateways and servers."

The IoT marketplace is growing drastically, but privacy and cybersecurity remain two major hurdles that must be addressed accordingly. EPID can be used for device authentication, standardization, and helps protect end-user privacy. The need for data security is crucial for the widespread adoption of Things in the workplace and at home, so expect similar partnerships from Intel in the future.

Verizon has teased that it has successfully tested out its new, insanely fast fiber-optic technology that goes by the name of next-generation passive optical network, or NG-PON2.

This new technology is capable of blasting speeds to users at anywhere between 10Gbps and 80Gbps, enough to download many Blu-ray movies in just a few seconds. The new technology uses an optical line terminal (OLT) which is capable of generating four wavelengths of light, each capable of transmitting data at 10Gbps down, and 2.5Gbps up.

Verizon's impressive new technology is capable of transmitting both the current GPON (or Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network) as well as the new, insanely quick NG-PON2, simultaneously. The system is even capable of switching between the four wavelengths in the case of something going wrong, where it can quickly restore the 10Gbps connection.

A startup company from Germany wants you to forget about your regular house keys, and use a hands-free fob that has been named the Kiwi Ki.

The system operates using radio-frequency identification (RFID) and unlocks a house door as the resident approaches. The mechanism is available for less than $450, and each key fob requires a monthly fee.

"It is much more secure than a normal key. A normal key can be copied easily, sometimes just from a photograph," said Henryk Ploetz, a security analyst, in a statement to Euronews. "With this one you can't do that. That is the case for all contactless keys, but this one is as secure or more secure than all other contactless systems."

With many Americans wanting to get their grubby mitts on Google Fiber, there are going to be many simultaneously excited and disappointed with the news that Google is set to deliver its super-fast 1Gbps service to low-income properties.

Google will be rolling its Fiber service out to low-income housing in markets where it offers its Google Fiber service, including Atlanta, Durham, Nashville, and Kansas City. Best of all, it's going to be offered for, free. Yes, $0. Nothing. Nada. The Mountain View-based giant notes that households earning under $30,000 per year, roughly 26% of those have no Internet access at all.

A recent trial program pushed more than 90% of the residents in one public housing property sign up for Google Fiber. But offering up some free 1Gbps Internet for free, is going to be huge for the service, and those in low-income housing.

If you thought your current 4G speeds were good, they won't even begin to compare to what 5G will offer. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has agreed on the preliminary definitions of the future 5G standard, where the 12-member delegation decided on the new specification.

5G compliant networks will be capable of providing speeds of up to 20Gbps, or over 2GB/sec, which is 20x faster than the 1Gbps specification for 4G. This means that consumers will enjoy speeds of up to 1GB/sec on your smartphones, with the region being between 100MB/sec and 1GB/sec, which is insanity. This is a 10x to 100x increase in the speeds available on typical 4G networks.

This huge increase in speeds will usher in a new era of connectivity, allowing 4K resolution video streaming and beyond being more than capable from a 5G-capable smartphone. The final 5G standard will be confirmed in October, with the 193 ITU member countries all voting on the final spec. 5G should be tested in 2018 at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.

Elon Musk has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission for SpaceX to built a constellation of 4,000 satellites that would blast Internet to even the most remote regions of Earth.

The plan would see SpaceX turn into an Internet service provider, a company that would compete directly with giants like Verizon and Comcast. Musk teased the plan earlier this year during a SpaceX event, but he didn't formally ask the FCC's permission until just last month. SpaceX would use their Falcon 9 rocket to launch the satellites into orbit, and then start broadcasting Internet signals to various points around the planet.

SpaceX is requesting permission from the FCC to test out if their antenna technology is strong enough to blast signals to devices on Earth, and if their permission is granted, they could begin testing this out by next year. If the testing all goes to plan, SpaceX could be your ISP within the next five years.

Computex 2015 - GIGABYTE wants to evolve into a hardware company known for supporting the Internet of Things (IoT), and has introduced its GB-BXBT-3825 IoT gateway. The gateway has been designed to provide connectivity between legacy devices and intelligence IoT infrastructures.

The new system is powered by the Intel Atom E3825 processor, and is being promoted by GIGABYTE as "the idea building block for a fast development of intelligence vending machines." The GB-BXBT-3825 provides connectivity that bridges legacy equipment to the cloud, and hardware security root that provides trust, data encryption, and software protection.

The GIGABYTE GB-BXBT-3825 has the following specifications: GIGABYTE MZBAYAD motherboard, 1.33GHz Intel Atom E3825 CPU, 1x BGA 1170, 1x SO-DIMM slot supporting up to 8GB RAM, 1x GbE LAN port, Intel HD graphics, Realtek ALC283 audio, 1x SATA III 6 Gb/s port, and 1x 2.5" HDD/SSD internal bay.