Europe Is Testing 12.5 Gbps Wireless

Lorien_the_first_one brings word that in Europe, a breakthrough for post-4G communications has been announced. A public-private consortium known as IPHOBAC has been developing new communications technology that is near commercialization now. Quoting: "With much of the mobile world yet to migrate to 3G mobile communications, let alone 4G, European researchers are already working on a new technology able to deliver data wirelessly up to 12.5Gb/s. The technology — known as 'millimeter-wave' or microwave photonics — has commercial applications not just in telecommunications (access and in-house networks) but also in instrumentation, radar, security, radio astronomy and other fields."

Comments

Fry

[pmarini]

and how many of those radiowaves are going to fry our brains ? let me see:
- 10 thousands satellites beaming down their TV programmes and GPS coordinates
- 1 thousand TV stations beaming up their programmes (that's very high power)
- 500 millions of cordless phone handsets (frequencies anyone ?)
- 100 millions cordless keyboards and mice (ranging from 40MHz to 2.4GHz)
- 2 billions cellphones and millions of related cellular-comms-towers
- billions of wi-fi connections from portable phones, laptops, VoIP, ...
- billions of bluetooth-enabled devices
- brand new wireless video devices...

bar the obvious tinfoil jokes, we are going to use a new excuse for calling sick, like "my brain is upset this morning, it must be the new access point that I installed yesterday... sorry, you'll have to cover for me until I finish restoring my brain backup from yest#%@ - what is this email that I sent to myself with a password for a new access point ?"

Re:Fry

[MichaelSmith]

Most of us bathe in kilowatts of infra red radiation at shorter wavelengths (and higher photon energy) than microwaves. I don't see how photons of lower energy could be causing us problems.

Re:Fry

[BlueParrot]

Most of us bathe in kilowatts of infra red radiation at shorter wavelengths (and higher photon energy) than microwaves. I don't see how photons of lower energy could be causing us problems.

It is all about how people perceive risks and fail to consider them rationally. A bit of a similar example is how a number of people are up in arms about the rates of violent crime, and are willing to sacrifice their liberties and privacy if the government merely suggests it might perhaps help, yet consider the prospect of biking to work unthinkable, despite the benefits it would grant them in terms of reduced risks of heart diseases and stroke. From a rational point of view the latter is a much greater risk to people's quality of life and wellbeing, but the former sells more newspapers and hence receives a results in a disproportionate amount of concern.

Re:Fry

[famebait]

I don't see how photons of lower energy could be causing us problems.

And so the question inevitably arises:
Do you in fact know enough about photons and radiation for your failure to see any problems to imply with any degree of probability that there are no problem problem?
Or should our conclusion be simply "no, you don't, do you?".

Your implicit assumption that higher energy photons are universally more dangerous than lower energy photons would seem to speak for the latter.

Re:Take the stairs? Take the elevator?

[rolfwind]

Your analogy would make more sense if America were making big leaps every few years in communication tech. However, just looking at the internet alone, so many people are still left with dial-up and will be there indefinitely while others here have Verizon Fios, the other side of the residential spectrum. Now, the old argument is population density one, but I feel that is a dead horse in many ways, with communities in Europe (Sweden) with comparable or lower density getting top notch speeds. Hell, just look at the gauge of wire for electricity that get to the super high % amount of population except the most, most remote, and also being able to provide telephone service for those same people too - and then tell me laying fiber optic is too expensive.

The only time I saw Verizon move in my area to provide better service the last 10 years (Fios) was when comcast started offering voip phone service (they already have a strong cable internet following). Suddenly Verizon felt threatened. But otherwise they stayed slothful, providing as little service as possible while extracting the greatest price. They only moved when they felt threatened (how Verizon shat itself and went to court when Philadelphia proposed ubiquitous wireless internet). It seems that way with many of the monopolies. Hell, even regular old cellular service is abysmal in this country once you go past the population centers of the east and west coast. Nevermind cellular data service.

Which is too bad. So much of the internet is really hampered by the traditional view of it being on the desktop. In a stationary place. The notebook boom coupled with WiFi spots moved to alleviate that but it really isn't on the go yet. The iPhone was probably the first mainstream product but service is still very expensive and no matter what you choose, pretty slow. Just as the internet was the killer app of the last 20 years, changing how we live; cheap, relatively speedy, ubiquitous wireless internet would probably be the next killer app the next 20 years.

Whoa, This Can Be Big

[aoheno]

Land line went years ago. Fiber will be next together with the 1Gbps wired LAN and everything hanging off it - especially the not so green power adapters, quaint WAPs, Switches, and Routers.

Imagine no more ISPs. Netflix can stop throttling. Computers only need RAM and boot from the cloud.

Will my 4G Google phone need a small power station or will a standard adapter do?

Re:Take the stairs? Take the elevator?

[Runaway1956]

Horse shit. Did Europe have internet twenty years before the United States did? This seems to be what you are suggesting. Fact is, the US has fallen behind because our "business leaders" are to busy having huge circle jerks, trying to figure out how to use modern technology to rip off the consumer. Witness the number of lawsuits filed to prevent towns and counties from implementing internet service in areas that no corporation was interested in supplying service anyway. Yes, look at how far behind we are today. And, think about how far behind we'll be in another ten years. Then, write you congressman to make things happen, and stop whining out your excuses for substandard performance on America's part.