Disruptor

By Patrick Nelson

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The Disruptor: Thought-provoking commentary on technologies that are changing the way mankind does things.

Opinion

Data center fiber to jump to 800 gigabits in 2019

Capacity enhancements for fiber-optic communications continue.

03/20/2019

The noise in fiber could be used to increase data capacity

One normally wants to get rid of noise in data links, but scientists at ETH Zurich say you can harness it to increase the capacity of fiber-optic cables.

03/13/2019

How blockchain will manage networks

Ethernet networking technology is inherently insecure and hard to manage. To address that, researchers say a blockchain approach to network management is needed.

03/07/2019

New chemistry-based data storage would blow Moore’s Law out of the water

If successful, a computing technique being developed by researchers at Arizona State University would allow transistors to fit on individual molecules – smaller than Moore ever envisioned.

02/28/2019

Power over Wi-Fi: The end of IoT-sensor batteries?

New materials and techniques for collecting power from radio waves could spur mass battery-free Internet of Things (IoT) sensors.

02/21/2019

That VPN may not be as secure as you think

Researchers found some subscription VPN services have programming errors that cause leaks, monitor user traffic, and lack privacy policies — all reasons to set up your own VPN server.

02/13/2019

Light-based computers to be 5,000 times faster

New light absorption techniques in semiconductors get clock rates 5,000 times quicker than current PCs. It’s one more step towards an all-light computing environment.

02/07/2019

DARPA explores new computer architectures to fix security between systems

A completely new government-developed computer architecture could ultimately lead to widespread, commercial-oriented data-security fixes as information moves between systems.

01/31/2019

Do frog croaks hold the key to creating the perfect IoT network?

Studying how tree frogs regulate their communications, so each amphibian in the colony can hear everything, could provide ideal data traffic routings, scientists say.

01/24/2019

Quantum-embedded chips could secure IoT

An unclonable, quantum physics-driven microprocessor might be the solution to securing the Internet of Things.

01/17/2019

How edge computing can help secure the IoT

IoT security could shift to the network level, especially the edge, as the need for data anonymization and customized security becomes essential.

01/10/2019

How blockchain will transform the IoT

Supply chain, automotive, and sales of industrial sensor data emerge as initial use-case contenders for blockchain and its ilk in the Internet of Things.

01/02/2019

Space data backbone gets U.S. approval

LeoSat plans to build a constellation of low-orbit satellites that provides max transmission speed of 5.2 gigabits per second and latency of 20 milliseconds.

12/18/2018

Computers could soon run cold, no heat generated

Transistors, superconductors, and chip design have all seen efficiency breakthroughs this year. So much so, that we may see the cold-running computer before too long.

12/12/2018

Edge-chips could render some networks unnecessary

Neuristor circuits will perform super-edge computations similar to how the brain does them, reducing network loads and possibly making some networks redundant.

12/06/2018

Using the Internet of Sound to transfer IoT data via speakers

Ultrasonic sounds could be overlaid onto audible sounds for Internet of Things (IoT) communications, says IoT startup Trillbit.

11/29/2018

Chip-cooling breakthrough will reduce data-center power costs

A new microprocessor manufacturing technique could keep future electronics 18 degrees cooler, providing huge efficiency gains for data centers.

11/20/2018

Spectrum shake-up to deliver more Wi-Fi, connections

Large swaths of additional unlicensed spectrum will become available in the U.S. for connected devices, including Wi-Fi, if various proposals and schemes by the FCC come about.

11/15/2018