Discovery channels: Super phones, biofuels take form in KU laboratories
Lawrence,KS (08-16-2008)
A new sign on the Kansas Turnpike proclaims three major KU accomplishments that passing motorists may want to know: the 2008 NCAA men’s basketball championship; the 2008 Orange Bowl championship and KU’s status as an international research university.
The research designation is listed first.
KU administrators long have made boosting the university’s status as a major research university a top goal.
So, what do KU researchers have cooking that could affect your daily life? Here’s a look:
Super phones
Researchers at KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center are doing the legwork for a world where wireless phones truly will work like powerful computers.
"Your cell phone could become a broadband Internet computer," said
Michelle Ward, the public relations manager for the center. "It would work just as well as the broadband computer sitting in your office."
The key is television airwaves. KU researchers -- led by professor
Joseph Evans--have been studying whether devices like wireless phones, Palm Pilots and hotspots can take advantage of unused TV spectrum without messing up the TV industry.
Ward said researchers already have done enough work to know the concept is possible. Now ITTC leaders are just refining the parameters.
Cheaper shipping
In today’s world of high fuel prices, greater costs of the products you buy are related to shipping costs.
Researchers at ITTC are hoping to ease the shipping cost pressures by improving the use of radio frequency identification tags by major retailers and manufacturers.
The RFID technology allows manufacturers and retailers to use computers and radio waves to keep track in real time of their inventories. The thinking is that greater efficiency will cut down on transportation costs.
KU researchers--led by
Daniel Deavours have come up with new technology to tackle the longtime problem of RFID tags performing poorly when they are near metal containers.
This concludes the ITTC portion of the article.
For more information, contact ITTC.
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