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University of Washington harnesses RF and TV waves for battery-free wireless devices (video)
The problem with power is that, eventually, it runs out. To help cope with this inevitability, scientists at the University of Washington have developed prototype "ambient backscatter" devices that can passively harness the juice in radio and TV waves. Because they don't generate their own signal, these devices can get by on the juice they siphon from the air -- communicating by absorbing or reflecting binary information from existing signals, instead. According to the researchers, these signals can travel as far as 6.5 miles from a TV tower at speeds of 1KB per second. Although the project is still in its infancy, its creators are already thinking up practical applications. Ambient backscatter tags could be built into buildings or bridges, for instance, and alert monitoring stations to potential structural damage or defects. The team also imagined tagged keys and furniture, warning a user if they accidentally dropped something between the couch cushions -- all without an energy source. This type of tech could bring us closer to the internet-of-things future we've been promised, allowing smart communications to exist virtually anywhere. The Huskies said this could even enable a dead smartphone to send TV signal-powered text messages -- which could be great considering how often we forget to charge our handsets.
Rosum's Alloy chip promises 'precise' location using TV signals
Though plenty of firms (including some big ones) have been trying to commercialize consumer-facing indoor positioning technologies for years, none have succeeded on a wide scale -- which certainly seems to leave the door wide open for a system that actually works to be wildly successful, doesn't it? Rosum has been toying with the idea of using plain old TV signals to accurately locate people and objects within GPS-hating structures for years, and with today's launch of its so-called Alloy system with partner Siano, the company could be closer to wide-scale deployment. Basically, Alloy combines AGPS (for maximum precision outdoors and in marginal areas) with support for a variety of types of TV signals to enhance coverage and provide <150 meter accuracy even in the deepest, darkest, dankest corners of your home where traditional GPS would never dream of going. What's more, Rosum touts that TV positioning is several orders of magnitude more power-efficient than AGPS, music to the ears of anyone who's struggling to get a full day's battery out of their phone. They're sampling chipsets beginning this month, but don't expect it in handsets right away -- Rosum's primary target appears to be femtocell makers. The devices traditionally require GPS reception, requiring unsightly remote GPS antennas if you're not interested in balancing the cell on a window sill, so a technology like this should let you properly bury that network extender behind a bookshelf where it belongs. Follow the break for Rosum's press release.
