Research

Researchers from IDLab (an imec research group at Ghent University and the University of Antwerp, Belgium) and Nokia Bell Labs have presented the first upstream linear burst-mode transimpedance amplifier (TIA) chip that accommodates 50 Gbit/s NRZ and 100 Gbit/s PAM-4 modulation. The chip enables optical line terminals (OLTs) to cope with upstream packets’ varying signal strength and quality degradation; effects ...

Researchers at Stanford University have modelled over-night home charging of electric vehicles and predict that it is not the correct strategy, for the Western US at least. Simulation is based on a model, revealed in March, for charging demand that can be applied to different human populations under different conditions. In a demonstration, they have now applied it to the ...

Researchers from Glasgow University, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Pakistan and Southeast University, Nanjing in China have paired RF sensing with AI  to identify lip movements which could create a new generation of hearing aids Currently, hearing aids assist hearing-impaired people by amplifying all ambient sounds around them. However, in noisy situations such as cocktail ...

Kingston University is testing a hydroelectric turbine prototype from a pontoon in the Thames. Developed by Hales Marine Energy near Eastbourne, the aim is to create a turbine that can be used in the sea as well as rivers, sitting on a submergible tank that normally rests on the sea bed, but can be floated to the surface for maintenance. ...

Engineers at MIT have found a way to get sub-mm resolution and deep penetration from a stick-on ultrasound patch that can be worn for at least two days and peels off at the end of monitoring without leaving residue. In a proof-of-concept, they demonstrated sub-mm resolution images in the first centimetres of tissue, allowing blood vessels to be monitored live, ...

Researchers at Heriot-Watt University have improved a fibre optic endoscope in a demonstrated of laser-enhanced chemical etching, and developed a way to significantly speed up such 3d patterning of silica blocks prior to etching similar structures. The endoscope is a commercial single polymer 1.5mm diameter fibre that, instead of a single core, has 13,000 parallel cores to allow an image ...

Fujitsu and Riken have set up a quantum computer development centre in Wako city in Saitama prefecture to jointly develop quantum computers with government financial assistance. The companies intend to make a 64-qubit quantum computer available to organisations doing research work by April 2024, reports the Nikkei. So far, the world’s largest quantum computer is IBM’s which has 127 qubits. ...

Researchers from Chung-Ang University in Korea have developed a harvester that collects energy from breath in a gas mask, and have used it to power a harmful gas sensor. The harvester is a form of teng (tribo-electric nano-generator, explained at the bottom here) that use motion and electric charge to cause an ac current in an external circuit. This one ...

Viavi Solutions is supporting 6G academic and industry research worldwide through its new 6G Forward program. The program is designed to provide vital expertise, technology, and funding to promising avenues of research, which may lead to breakthroughs for the next generation of wireless technology. At the University of Surrey, Viavi is a founding member of the 5G/6G Innovation Centre led ...

National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan is experimenting with piezoelectric gated thin-film transistors. “Piezotronic force sensors are typically governed by either a strain-induced Schottky barrier height modulation or by a piezo-gating effect that redistributes the charge carriers in an induced piezoelectric field,” according to NCKU. “While Schottky barrier height based piezotronic devices have been well-explored, piezo-gating based devices remain relatively ...