"WIRELESS: WiMax emulator debuts"

Elektrobit Corp. rolled out what it claims is the industry's first radio channel emulator aimed at manufacturers of basestations and subscriber devices using WiMax, LTE and other 4G wireless network standards.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210604881

"ROBOTICS: Posture control demonstrated"

A two-wheeled, inverted pendulum robot that demonstrates posture control in robots that must balance was shown at Ceatac Japan by Waseda University's Humanoid Robotics Institute and industry partner STMicroelectronics. The autonomous robot is the result of ST's first cooperative development effort with a Japanese university. ST will supply the Institute with chips and free access to advanced electronic prototypes. The Japanese institute specializes in designing humanoid robots for the home and medical applications.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210604786

"WIRELESS: Tall tale: Trees could power wireless networks"

The U.S. Forest Service uses a network of automated stations to track weather conditions, especially during fire season. But the solar-powered remote network needs large forest clearings so the Sun can reach collectors. At the same time, Forest Service officials wish they could install sensors on more trees. Now, researchers say that by harnessing the voltage difference between a tree and the ground new ultralow-power sensors can transmit sensor data from almost any tree. The approach would also elimate the need to clear the forest floor for solar power.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210604688

"WIRELESS: PMC-Sierra seeks to unify WiMax bands"

PMC-Sierra Inc. will unveil its solution for unifying five different frequency bands at this week's WiMax World (Sept. 30-Oct. 2, Chicago). The company (Santa Clara, Calif.) said it will show solutions for unifying frequency bands being allocated for wireless broadband worldwide. With frequency bands ranging from 700 MHz to 6 GHz, RF chip makers are crafting solutions that enable both basestations and mobile subscriber devices to switch wavelengths in different regions.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210604576

"ROBOTICS: Underwater helicopter surfaces"

Undersea robots have until now operated like fixed-wing aircraft, requiring motion to maneuver. Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers now say they have created the helicopter-of-the-sea, the Odyssey IV. Created in MIT's Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Laboratory, the Odyssey IV can hover like a helicopter, enabling applications like inspecting deepwater oil rigs, observation of sea-bottom flora and fauna and other oceanographic research. The MIT lab has been designing and building undersea robots since the 1990s, but researchers claim the Odyssey IV is the first model to hover like a helicopter. The Odyssey IV completed its initial trials off Woods Hole, Mass., where it proved it can hover at depths of up to 6,000 meters (3.7 miles).
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210604425

"PODCAST: Week in Review, Sept. 26, 2008"

A new MEMS microphone design and a thinner MEMS oscillator along with electronic-paper tablets and a new spherical design for a ultrawideband antenna highlight this week's technology review.
For details, see our slideshow
For commentary, listen to technology the weekly podcast.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210604206
Audio: http://i.cmpnet.com/eetimes/audio/NextGenLog-08-09-26.mp
Slideshow: http://www.eetimes.com/galleries/slideShow.jhtml?galleryID=49

"WIRELESS: Curved UWB antenna said to be most compact"

Compact antennas are usually one-quarter the length of the wavelength being transmitted, but Virgina Tech engineers are claiming a 2.5-fold reduction in the size of an ultrawideband antenna. The compact UWB antenna (CUA) has a curved multi-element shape twisting around the inside of a spherical shape with a diameter just one-tenth that of the wavelength being transmitted.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210603887

"WIRELESS: E-paper tablet race heats up"

Two startups are claiming the world's first letter-sized electronic paper tablet. IRex Technologies BV (Eindhoven, Netherlands), a spinoff of Philips Electronics N.V., and Plastic Logic Inc. (Mountain View, Calif), a spinoff of the Cavendish Laboratory at University of Cambridge, U.K. Both the iRex 1000 and the Plastic Logic Reader have outer dimensions approximating the size of an 8.5- by 11-inch tablet. Both use reflective, high-contrast gray-scale electrophoretic material from E-Ink Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.). The iRex 1000 is available now. Plastic Logic's Reader won't be available until 2009, but the company claims its tablet is slightly larger. Both e-paper tablets display most document types--books, magazines, newspapers, PDFs and other electronic formats--but iRex's electronic paper tablet also can write on documents with a stylus--circling, underlining or long-hand writing. Plastic Logic's e-paper tablet is slightly larger, slightly thinner and weighs slightly less, but iRex's electronic paper tablet is a third-generation model with most of the bugs said to be worked out. Plastic Logic's Reader uses low-temperature transistor arrays on a flexible plastic substrate that eventually could be up to 40 percent cheaper to manufacture than silicon transistors on glass. But iRex claims its traditional glass-substrate is cheaper now, plus it will offer plastic substrates in future models when prices drop.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210603630