Intel Wi-Fi Travels Over 100 Kilometers

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What is the biggest problem when it comes to Wi-Fi connections? The distance; that's why new standards have been created – to allow for the transmission of information on longer distances, and also a higher data

transfer is made possible. The nag of having to deal with cables is also a big thing you should consider, many people actually choose the wireless solution for this reason alone.

And newer chips cost more, and manufacturing facilities give a lot of new jobs and that's progress, but what if, instead of always taking a piece of hardware apart and call it “obsolete”, why not putting some thought into what can be done with existing hardware, rather than just bringing out new stuff, that doesn't always bring something good.

Take, as an example, the AGP slot and the PCI Express, it was first said that the PCI Express interface was necessary because of the bottlenecking of the data going through the 8GB/s AGP interface. That wasn't 100% true when it was said, but nobody took it upon themselves to actually verify the truth in that affirmation. That other purposes have been found for the interface, or better said, that the change was made using the bandwidth as the cover story. It's hard to give up on something good for that which is just as good, but in order for the people to accept the change, it was presented as a mandatory requirement for the maximum bandwidth to be achieved. The people said “yes”, and then they had the chance of actually putting their ideas into action.

Regarding the Wi-Fi, it's the same thing, but under a different “mask”. Eric Brewer, Director of Intel Research Berkeley, was able to bring a new point of view to an “old” piece of hardware, by using “regular Wi-Fi hardware (...) with modified software”. The goal was to take the normal Wi-Fi transmission, which is sent by an antenna on a 360-degree radius, and focusing the signal into one direction. By using this method, they stated that their system can take regular Wi-Fi signal and transmit it to over 100 kilometers.

The alignment of the antennas so that they would communicate to one another is hard to achieve on a physical level, because any small shift in the position would cause signal loss. The solution was to make an “electrical steering”, instead of normal position shifting, thus eliminating any signal loss in case the antennas move out of alignment.

My Personal Earthquake

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Have you ever wanted to have your own earthquake? I guess not. But I am sure that at least on one occasion you wanted your room either bigger or

to have your sound system's loudspeakers placed somewhere else while still be able to enjoy your favorite music.

Now, as I presume you figured it out, you're not the only ones who have faced the insufficient room problem; other people thought about this as well and the big difference is that they had both the mind and resources to make things different. PSB is their name and they are currently solving your biggest problem: placing the sometimes inconveniently-large subwoofer away from your path and your sight but not away from your hearing range.

PSB's in-wall mountable CWS10 subwoofers promise to have the problems above solved in no time, right from the start. Basically, there were some point to be checked in the development of such gear. First of all, designing a shape for the box, which they did in marvelous style, creating a 4-inch deep bass box so you don't need to ruin the house while installing the speakers.

Secondly, since we're speaking about woofers, there's bass: bass means low frequencies and this requires special speakers with special cones to move a lot of air - they also need special architecture. PSB managed to create an anechoic box for the CWS10 both allowing air to flow as it is supposed to when talk comes to bass.

Two 4 Ohms, 10” woofers with a much lower profile than the regular ones (hence the 4” overall depth) will pump out bass coming from a 50 to 300W amp so they'll literally shake your walls if need be. Neodymium magnets ensure the smooth yet strong and reliable operation at the nominal 89dB SPL.

The CWS10 is mountable on any wall, even from construction stage or after the building has been finished. The in-wall woofer is affixed with an extruded aluminum flange and “dog leg” clamps and its perforated metal grille can be painted to match any interior design.

Finally, the third construction issue was not carried out as brilliantly as the others have been: the price is one dollar short of $2,500 and this makes these woofers a rather expensive alternative to the fuss of having to deal with wires, dusting and/or re-arranging loudspeakers in your living room.