On Mar 28, 12:50 am, m...@sushi.com wrote:
> http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...ess&id=5157587
>
> Mar. 27 - KGO - WiFi -- it's your connection, if not now, in the near
> future, to the Internet. Of course, you want it whenever and wherever
> at hot spots as well as not so hot spots, but the technology is not
> quite there yet.
>
> WiFi has enabled laptop users to connect to the Internet on the go.
> The technology is designed to spread an Internet connection over a
> short distance.
>
> However, that's not good enough for these engineers and scientists at
> Berkeley's Intel Research Lab. They undertook a project last year to
> create a new kind of WiFi system that sends the signal over a long
> distance -- up to 60 miles. The key to that is this prototype antenna.
>
> Alan Mainwaring, Ph.D., Intel Lab Research Scientist: "So what this
> basically is, is a reflector. So, the WiFi energy is radiated by this
> element, and it reflects off this surface in such a way that a narrow
> beam is formed, and this is what allows the energy to travel a greater
> distance."
>
> The goal is to provide Internet connections by WiFi to remote areas of
> the world, affording students in the Amazon rainforest or in India to
> have the same access to information as the rest of the world.
>
> The system also simplifies the process of lining up the transmitter
> and the receiving antenna for optimum signal strength. The technology
> also could have applications here at home when a natural disaster
> might strike.
>
> WiFi with this new long-distance capability could be deployed quickly
> to restore communications.
>
> Kevin Fall, Ph.D., Intel Lab Principal Engineer: "This we can actually
> roll in with a truck, put up an antenna on a tripod and do that sort
> of thing, and a number of cities around the country have been looking
> at these kinds of capabilities in order to help out the emergency
> response system."
>
> Intel engineers say another key benefit is the low cost. They project
> the antennas they created will cost only $200 dollars.
>
> This WiFi project is a great example of collaboration between a public
> university and private industry. It's now being tested in Ghana, India
> and Uganda.

After contacting the reporter, it turns out he neglected to mention
the Intel project as steer the antenna electronically. Now that would
be THE innovation. Not new technology, but certainly an advancement in
consumer priced technology.