Whew – September’s half over, and so are my travels. I’ve received permission to write up both the Silicon Valley project (examining meshes as an extension to corporate wireless LANs) and the Seattle project (some novel advances in RF Spectrum Management) as Farpoint Group White Papers or Technical Notes. I’m working on these now and should have both for you around the end of the month. This week, though, is New York and Interop/MBX; if you’re in the neighborhood, please stop by the Javits Center to take in the program. I’ve been working on it for over six months, and I think it’s one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure to be associated with. And don’t forget IT RoadMap Dallas a week from tomorrow – it’s a great program presented at no charge if you’re a qualified IT professional.
As I’m about to hit the road again this morning, just a brief note today. A couple of people called to discuss the phased-array antenna posting, and for a purpose other than to sell me something. A fair question here is whether phased arrays are the future of WLAN antennas even indoors, and I think the answer to that question depends upon cost. Steerable antennas may not make as much sense indoors due to multipath, but it’s clear that more research is indicated here. I think, though, that if we can make cheap phased arrays, they could see significant application in access points and maybe, as I speculated in the original posting, in clients as well.
But phased arrays aren’t the only exotic antenna technology that’s a contender here. Remember fractals? A fractal is a mathematical construct that is useful in modeling elements from nature that build big objects out of similar but smaller objects, like the leaves and branches and trunks on a tree. Fractals were a popular topic in computer graphics 20 years ago, but, as it turns out they have broad application today in – you guessed it – antennas. Fractal antennas look like fractal designs, and, like most antennas, their function is a bit counterintuitive and mathematically complex. Depending upon design, however, they can offer great coverage and frequency response from a passive, inexpensive design. Two companies you can look at here are Fractal Antenna Systems and Fractus. They are fierce competitors and both offer a wealth of information on their sites. Regardless, antennas in general remain an area of active research and I expect the breakthroughs to continue for the foreseeable future.
I’ll be posting news from Interop/MBX this week. Stay tuned – and, as always, thanks for stopping by.
