New Full Duplex Radio Chip Transmits and Receives Wireless Signals At Once (ieee.org)

Wave723 writes: A new chip by Columbia University researchers uses a circulator made of silicon transistors to reroute signals and avoid interference from a transmitter and receiver that share the same antenna. This technology instantly doubles data capacity and could eventually be built into smartphones and tablets. The chip enables them to work around the principle of Lorentz Reciprocity, in which electromagnetic waves are thought to always travel along the same path both forward and backward. Traditionally, electronic devices required two antennas -- a transmitter and receiver -- that took turns or operated on different frequencies in order to exchange signals.

Comments

good miniaturation

[Anonymous Coward]

Circulators are used all of the place (radar, satcom), so nothing new. But one small and efficient enough to potentially work in a cellphone? Neat stuff. They come with their own set of tradeoffs, so it might not be worth it in the end for smartphone use, but will find use somewhere.