A Blast From the Past - Far Wierder Than Finding an Old Presentation on the Web

Received a communication late yesterday from a very determined individual that wished to know the latest about Broadband in Gas, a topic we covered in a report about five years ago. The idea is that by using a particular type of RF technology it should be possible to utilize natural gas infrastructure to deliver broadband services to a dwelling. Given that the medium is underground and inside either a plastic or metallic pipe the RF spectrum is empty and unregulated, and has an available spectrum running from DC to light with essentially unlimited transmitted power.

'I gotcha 5 GHz and 60dbm right here pally.'



The idea never reached escape velocity for a number of reasons, most of which were financial and political, having nothing to do with the technical feasibility. The company promoting the idea ultimately re-purposed the approach and did some work on (mostly) non-invasive remote measurement of internal pipeline damage and now seems to have vanished. For a natural gas utility the potential value of the spectrum inside the pipes is enormous; hence the calls and email.

It turns out the call was triggered by this link: How the heck did this happen? which shows up in Google as having been posted within the past month or so.

Automated content generator gone bad? Early indication of renewed interest in the approach?

Who knows?

All Things Considered, That Held Up Surprisingly Well

Presentation to Antennas and Systems in 2008

In early 2008 Kirsten and I were asked to write an article titled "Is 2008 the Year of ZigBee?" I was also invited to make a presentation with that title to the Antennas and Systems Conference. Talk about pressure. The astute reader will notice that by September most of the year is well situated in the past, safe from any forecasts and predictions made by yours truly. It turns out that we didn't do a bad job of it. Not perfect mind you; definitely someplace between a 'Gentleman's C' and a solid B, which is not bad for analysts.

So perhaps I can be forgiven for the definite cringe experienced when I recently came across the presentation out there where the past never dies.

There are definitely some cringe worthy moments in there, although surprisingly the themes and conclusions hold up pretty well even after two years have passed.

What's better than Smart Dust?

Smart Asphalt!!!

New Wireless Sensor Networks Research from WTRS

Wireless Sensor Networks Technology Trends Report Q2 2010

The surprise finding? Bluetooth Low Energy has a much bigger future than previously thought.

WSN, ZigBee, Bluetooth Low Energy, Low Power WiFi, IEEE 802.15.4, EnOcean, Z-Wave, Wavenis

Read the Boffo press release

Buy our Report.

Autocar drives the Nissan Leaf, walks away with a grin — Autoblog Green

Autocar drives the Nissan Leaf, walks away with a grin — Autoblog Green

More on the Leaf.

Money Quote: "If you don't drive more than 70 or 80 miles a day, then the Leaf might just be the perfect planet-friendly transport for you."

Wearable Location-Based Mobile Social Network

Wearable Location-Based Mobile Social Network

Let's see if I can do this justice.


The idea is that you carry a device that acts like a souped up active RFID tag. These devices communicate tag to tag using an IEEE 802.15.4 radio with a proprietary network stack. The contents of the tag is a social affinity list which characterizes the characteristics of the person you are most interested in meeting. The tag is also a Bluetooth device that you pair with your cell phone.

When the tags 'discover' each other they exchange affinity lists. If there is a match, your cell phones exchange brief text messages and you determine whether to meet or to check each other out on Facebook or whatever.

The marketing scenario is young people going about their daily business and meet serendipitously. It's hard to imagine adoption reaching the critical density required to make this particular scenario work although a helping hand from network operators might create the necessary volumes.

However, what if they handed out the tags as a party favor at something like The Lilith Fair or Lolapalooza? Or any other big festival that draws a large number of socially active individuals? Trade shows and conventions are other obvious opportunities, which to be fair are included in the marketing material.

One question is why a 2.4 GHz radio instead of one of the sub-Gig radios for longer range?

Another point is that the term 'Location-Based' is a bit of a misnomer given that your location or identity is not exchanged by the tags. A better term might be 'Proximity-Based' since this is what really triggers the activity.

Congratulations to Skip Ashton of Ember Corporation

Humble technologist makes good.