Wireless communication improvements

Researchers at UMR and Motorola are developing 3D switches and tiny fuel cells to improve the reception quality and extend the operating time for wireless communications and other wireless sensing devices.

Dr Matthew O'Keefe and Dr James Drewniak at UMR are working with Dr Keryn Lian of Motorola Labs making switches called Meso-MEMS (MEMS stands for micro-electro-mechanical systems). The switches could potentially improve reception quality, and save energy.

The switch would enable a mobile phone, for example, to be used in any geographic location by simply changing its frequency operation band. The switch works much like a light switch, it is either on or off, unlike the current solid state technology, which is on at some level all the time.

In the next phase, the researchers will also be developing tiny fuel cells to power wireless devices. The fuel cells could provide power for these products longer than traditional batteries. Unlike batteries, however, they do not run down or require electrical recharging. Fuel cells consists of two electrodes sandwiched around an electrolyte or membrane. Oxygen passes over one electrode and hydrogen or some other fuel source over the other, generating electricity, water and heat.