MIT’s Mirror-Type Smart Surface Can Boost Indoor WiFi, Mobile Signals By 10-Times! This Is How It Works..

Amidst all the commotion of 5G technologies, electric vehicles, new technical innovations to reduce piracy and online crime, we have great news for you if you’re into technological findings. We are sure each and everyone of you has sometime or the other (or maybe once everyday) experienced the wrath of poor internet connectivity.

Even though the telecom companies today promise 4G connectivity all around the country at quit reasonable prices, to be honest we cannot expect the said deal on the same. The condition gets worse when one needs strong connection while doing some important job.

No one can agree more, with the problems faced due to inadequate signal strength within homes and offices, prevailing still at large. To solve this, the researchers at MIT, from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have developed a “smart surface” that can boost signal strength up to 10 times.

RFocus: The Concept

Like we said, the researchers from MIT have developed a software-controlled “smart surface”, which promises to boost the signal strength up to 10 times.

The surface, named as RFocus is quite cost-effective and contains 3,000 antennas that can boost  channel strength within office walls by 2 times. This turns out to be quite helpful when multiple devices are trying to access the same network, which is what generally happens in an office premise.

According to the lead author of this research paper, ‘3000 antennas’ is the largest number of antennas ever used for a single communication link.

The Miracles of RFocus

This RFocus can be easily installed on a wall and set up between cubicles. Also, one of the core advantages  of this surface is that it can be configured to act as a mirror or a lens depending on the position of the device with respect to the receiver.

For anyone dealing with antennas and systems of similar module, preservation of battery is an important parameter. Thus, in order to reduce battery drain, systems often broadcast directed signals, which in turn reduces power for signal strength to achieve that.

However, that requires receiving devices to include extra antennas or increase the size of them at access points, which is pretty impractical and here is where MIT’s new solution can come in handy.

MIT professor Hari Balakrishnan said a system like RFocus might be really useful and cost-effective in a large space such as a warehouse.  He also added that this a promising solution for transmitting signals at low power.

Image Source