This morning brings news that 5D Robotics of Carlsbad, California has acquired Huntsville-Alabama based ultrawideband (UWB) pioneer, Time Domain Corporation. Time Domain President, Rachel Reinhardt, writes: 5D has been a long-standing customer of Time Domain. We have worked closely and developed a cultural affinity and mutual respect for one another […]
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Simon Ramon (1913-2016) died June 27, in Santa Monica, California. The 103-year-old left behind a legacy of RF, intellectual, and business achievement. A pioneer in the development of microwave and radar technology, he was the “R” in TRW, a predecessor of which he co-founded in 1953. Ramo became the architect […]
Dilbert cartoonist turned political commentator, Scott Adams, shares his unconventional creative wisdom in this fascinating keynote address at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. You’ll find Adams’ latest blog posts in my blog roll. And if you don’t like his talk, you probably won’t appreciate […]
Yesterday, UWB pioneer Time Domain announced their acquisition by a private equity group led by Bonaventure Capital and Fidelis Capital. Time Domain did not disclose the terms of the transaction. Additional details are available in a statement from the company and in coverage from the Huntsville Times.
The last couple of weeks were action packed. Two weeks ago, I spoke at the Texas Wireless and Microwave Circuits and System Symposium at Baylor University in Waco (see my post “Demystifying Electromagnetic Superposition“). Last week, I joined the Q-Track team in Orlando for RFID Journal Live, our industry’s leading […]
The Czarina and I are finally moving on up. The bungalow that was merely “snug” when we only had one set of twin girl babies has become a raucous and cramped madhouse now that the eight-year-old girls have been joined by their four-year-old brothers. We scrutinized our finances, consulted with […]
When Bob Cringely produced Triumph of the Nerds in 1995, he interviewed Steve Jobs. This was back when Jobs was with NeXT Computing and before he’d retaken the helm at Apple. Cringely used only a small portion of the interview and the rest was feared lost when the master tapes […]
This afternoon, I’ll be presenting at the Rocket City Geospatial Conference on the subject, “RTLS Enhancing Nuclear Safety.” Radiation exposure of workers in the nuclear industry poses a significant health hazard to the workers, and imposes substantial costs to the utilities that employ them. Q-Track has developed two Real-Time Location […]
The Time Domain Corporation has sold its ultra-wideband (UWB) real-time locating systems (RTLS) business unit to a newly-formed, privately-held company: PLUS Location Systems. Here’s the full press release: Huntsville, Alabama (March 31, 2011) – Time Domain, a leader in ultra wideband (UWB) product development, announced that it has sold its […]
Initiatives Magazine had a nice article about my company, Q-Track, and the many applications of our Near-Field Electromagnetic Ranging (NFER®) Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS). Coincidentally, an older article from Technology Alabama also recently became available online: In an all-too-familiar story in the Huntsville area, a technology — which was practiced […]
Time for more wireless updates: Here’s a great article about the British precursor to LORAN: “GEE.” GEE was one of the first implementations of the “Time-Difference-of-Arrival (TDOA)” concept used in some modern RTLS implementations. A simple explanation of Ekahau RTLS: “The Perfect Pairing of RF and IR.” Whatever happened to […]
Time once again to clear out the update queue: Steven J. Crowley explains the many facets of what’s called “4G” technology. MatthewLasar writing at ArsTechnica explains how smartphone makers are ready to wage war over the FM chip mandate pushed by broadcasters. From TechCrunch: Experimental Real-Time Location Tracking Comes To […]
Ultra-wideband (UWB) data products are coming to market at last. Last month, Alereon (Facebook, Twitter) announced that their UWB “NoWire(TM)” technology will be used in Imation’s Wireless Video/Audio Extender providing an up to 220Mbps link. Here’s a review. Alereon chips will also power Toshiba’s Wireless Dynadock W20. Now, Alereon’s competitors […]
Is history repeating itself? Just as Apple took the early lead in PC’s only to be overtaken by IBM and a horde of loosely aligned competitors, so also is Apple’s flagship iPhone increasingly challenged by a variety of manufacturers offering not only Android phones but also phones powered by Microsoft’s […]
Periodically, I like to pass on interesting items that don’t warrant stand-alone posts. Here’s today’s list: ThingMagic continues their series on 100 innovative uses of RFID technology in 100 days at http://rfid.thingmagic.com/ Where, Inc., a location-based ad network, buys Local Ginger. More from the NYT. The Location-Based Services (LBS) market […]
Here are some updates: Not only does Steve Crowley have his monthly review of experimental license applications at the FCC, he also draws attention to a review of the proportion of lawyers, economists, and engineers at the FCC compared to other country’s telecommunications regulatory bodies. MP Antenna partners with TESSCO […]
Some Georgia Tech and University of Washington researchers have developed a scheme to use home wiring as an antenna for low power sensors operating at 27MHz. Patel’s team has devised a way to use copper electrical wiring as a giant antenna to receive wireless signals at a set frequency. A […]
A few quick updates, while I recover from Wireless Wednesday on Twitter: New Scientist explains the history of complex numbers in a fascinating piece, “Putting the ‘i’ in iPods.” But since the iPod is more an accomplishment of engineering instead of physics, shouldn’t it be called the” jPod?” To learn […]
I recently ran across a fantastic introduction to antenna engineering as a profession. Peter Massey compiled his Antenna Engineer’s Guide with an eye to helping students evaluate on antenna engineering as a career choice. Why chose antenna engineering as a career? Here’s Dr. Massey’s analysis: Interesting varied work. In many […]
Earlier this summer, noted technology writer Robert X. Cringely embarked on a cross-country tour to visit promising start-up companies with exciting stories. The project, sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, aims to help America rediscover entrepreneurship. Cringely’s tour will be the basis of a television series […]
On August 11, 2010, a major wireless milestone passed largely unnoticed: the end of a tumultuous twelve year regulatory process to authorize ultra-wideband (or “UWB”) wireless systems. The FCC ordered ET Docket No. 98-153 “TERMINATED.” By dismissing the last outstanding Petitions for Reconsideration, the FCC has finally and firmly secured […]
The CTIA – a wireless industry trade group – has compiled an interesting collection of Fifty Wireless Facts, including: 8. At the end of 2009, the average revenue per minute in the U.S. was $0.04. Across Europe’s developed countries, the average revenue per minute was $0.16. As a result, the […]
Music labels and broadcast stations have long argued about the royalties radio stations pay to the music labels for playing their songs on the air. Now they’ve reached an agreement, and one of the key terms is a proposed mandate to force cell phone manufacturers to embed an FM radio […]
The Boston Globe has a great article on Q-Track’s successful firefighter rescue demonstration at WPI earlier this month: WORCESTER — The blinded, disoriented firefighters who crawled up the stairs of a century-old brick building here recently had to find a missing colleague, and find him fast. Their only hope was […]