 |
|
British scientists create electron surf machine
June 13, 2007By precisely controlling billions of individual electrons every second, they hope to develop new computing systems and increase the security of digital communication.
Much like the conveyor belt in a production plant, NPL's electron surf machine delivers electrons one by one in a reliable steady stream at a rate of more than a billion a second. Whilst small streams of electrons can already be produced, until now no one has found a way to deliver them in a controlled fashion at such a high rate.
NPL's method involves creating oscillating waves of electro-static force which flow like the surf rolling into a beach. A single electron is placed on the crest of each wave and the electro-static waves are then focused in a particular direction or at a particular object.
The applications for the control of so many individual electrons include better new computers and ensuring absolute security for digital communication.
Better computers
All computer systems rely on a flow of electrical current through microprocessors. In existing computers, thousands of electrons flow in a disorderly manner in and out of each processor. This random motion causes significant heating (just feel the bottom of your laptop) and limits the computer's efficiency. By controlling individual electrons, exactly the right amount of current can be targeted at the processor at exactly the right time, allowing the computer to undertake more tasks, run more efficiently and cope with more requests at once.
Secure communication
Digital communication relies on the break up of a signal into small pieces, which are transported through wired or wireless communication networks and then pieced together at the recipient's end. Anyone wishing to eavesdrop needs to remove part of the message in transit to see or hear the information. The new electron surf machine could be used to encode the message into individual tiny light pulses (photons), making it much simpler to identify any which have been 'removed' by eavesdroppers, deterring snooping and alerting the sender or recipient that tampering has taken place.
National Physical Laboratory
The applications for the control of so many individual electrons include better new computers and ensuring absolute security for digital communication.
Better computers
All computer systems rely on a flow of electrical current through microprocessors. In existing computers, thousands of electrons flow in a disorderly manner in and out of each processor. This random motion causes significant heating (just feel the bottom of your laptop) and limits the computer's efficiency. By controlling individual electrons, exactly the right amount of current can be targeted at the processor at exactly the right time, allowing the computer to undertake more tasks, run more efficiently and cope with more requests at once.
Secure communication
Digital communication relies on the break up of a signal into small pieces, which are transported through wired or wireless communication networks and then pieced together at the recipient's end. Anyone wishing to eavesdrop needs to remove part of the message in transit to see or hear the information. The new electron surf machine could be used to encode the message into individual tiny light pulses (photons), making it much simpler to identify any which have been 'removed' by eavesdroppers, deterring snooping and alerting the sender or recipient that tampering has taken place.
National Physical Laboratory
Digital communications advance with simple CdS thin films
Demands on digital communications are increasing at an exponential rate. The need for innovative advances in this area means research on optical and electrical properties of CdS thin films are of interest.
Shrinking magnetic storage media down to the nanoscale
In the world of electronic and magnetic devices, the goal is to get smaller.
Delft Students Invited To Microsoft Forum
A group of industrial design engineering students from TU Delft has been invited by Microsoft to participate in the Design Expo '04 in August, a forum dedicated to new concepts for social computing. Six universities from across the globe have been invited to partake. The TU Delft students will present a concept which has the elderly as target group. Each year Microsoft Research invites a number of renowned design schools to come up with very 'out of the box' design ideas for digital communication. Usually, different schools are invited each year, which makes it very special that TU Delft is being invited to participate a second time. The Delft team, "team Plus," looked for a way to
More Digital Communication Current Events and Digital Communication News Articles
 |
Digital Communications by John G. Proakis (Author) The text is flexible and can easily be used in a one semester course or there is enough depth to cover two semesters. Its comprehensive nature makes it a great book for students to keep refer to in their professional careers. This best-selling book in "Digital Communications" by John G. Proakis has been revised to reflect the current trends in the field. Some of the topics that have been added include Turbocodes, Antenna Arrays, Iterative Detection, and Digital Cellular Systems. Also new to this edition are electronic figures for presentation materials found on the website. |
 |
Digital Communications by John Proakis (Author), Masoud Salehi (Author) Digital Communications is a classic book in the area that is designed to be used as a senior or graduate level text. The text is flexible and can easily be used in a one semester course or there is enough depth to cover two semesters. Its comprehensive nature makes it a great book for students to keep for reference in their professional careers. This all-inclusive guide delivers an outstanding introduction to the analysis and design of digital communication systems. Includes expert coverage of new topics: Turbocodes, Turboequalization, Antenna Arrays, Digital Cellular Systems, and Iterative Detection. Convenient, sequential organization begins with a look at the history and classification of channel models and builds from there. |
 |
Digital Communication: Third Edition by John R. Barry (Author), David G. Messerschmitt (Author), Edward A. Lee (Author) This book is intended for designers and would-be designers of digital communication systems. The general approach of the book is to extract the common principles underlying a range of media and applications and present them in a unified framework. Specifically, we treat the transport of bit streams from one geographical location to another over various physical media, such as wire pairs, coaxial cable, optical fiber, and radio. We also treat multiple-access channels, where there are potentially multiple transmitters and receivers sharing a common medium. Digital Communication is relevant to the design of a variety of systems, including voice and video digital cellular telephone, digital CATV distribution, wireless LANs, digital subscriber loop, metallic ethernet, voiceband... |
 |
Digital Communications: Fundamentals and Applications (2nd Edition) by Bernard Sklar (Author) A comprehensive treatment of the digital communications field, presenting theory and applications together, for professionals from all backgrounds. The CD-ROM contains SystemView software for digital communications and notes, tutorials, and exercises for getting started. System requirements: Microsoft Windows, CD-ROM drive, DLC: Digital communications. |
 |
Digital Communications by John G. Proakis (Author), Massoud Salehi (Author) |
 |
Principles of Digital Communication by Robert G. Gallager (Author) The renowned communications theorist Robert Gallager brings his lucid writing style to the study of the fundamental system aspects of digital communication for a one-semester course for graduate students. With the clarity and insight that have characterized his teaching and earlier textbooks, he develops a simple framework and then combines this with careful proofs to help the reader understand modern systems and simplified models in an intuitive yet precise way. A strong narrative and links between theory and practice reinforce this concise, practical presentation. The book begins with data compression for arbitrary sources. Gallager then describes how to modulate the resulting binary data for transmission over wires, cables, optical fibers, and wireless channels. Analysis and intuitive... |
 |
Fundamentals of Digital Communication by Upamanyu Madhow (Author) This is a concise presentation of the concepts underlying the design of digital communication systems, without the detail that can overwhelm students. Many examples, from the basic to the cutting-edge, show how the theory is used in the design of modern systems and the relevance of this theory will motivate students. The theory is supported by practical algorithms so that the student can perform computations and simulations. Leading edge topics in coding and wireless communication make this an ideal text for students taking just one course on the subject. Fundamentals of Digital Communications has coverage of turbo and LDPC codes in sufficient detail and clarity to enable hands-on implementation and performance evaluation, as well as 'just enough' information theory to enable computation... |
 |
Principles of Digital Communication and Coding by Andrew J. Viterbi (Author), Jim K. Omura (Author) Written by two distinguished experts in the field of digital communications, this classic text remains a vital resource three decades after its initial publication. Its treatment is geared toward students of communications theory and to designers of channels, links, terminals, modems, or networks used to transmit and receive digital messages. 1979 edition. |
 |
An Introduction to Analog and Digital Communications by Simon Haykin (Author), Michael Moher (Author) The second edition of this accessible book provides readers with an introductory treatment of communication theory as applied to the transmission of information-bearing signals. While it covers analog communications, the emphasis is placed on digital technology. It begins by presenting the functional blocks that constitute the transmitter and receiver of a communication system. Readers will next learn about electrical noise and then progress to multiplexing and multiple access techniques. |
 |
Analog and Digital Communications (Schaum's Outlines) by Hwei P. Hsu (Author) This study guide acts as an excellent tutor in this subject. It offers clear explanations of the mathematics behind signal and linear system analysis, fully covering communications theory, and provides an introduction to information theory and coding. Also included are more than 400 solved problems and hundreds more with answers, so students can test themselves and track theor own progress as they master various concepts and their applications. |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |