Researchers at the University of Texas have invented a circuit that could enable full duplex wireless communications in smartphones. The circuit should, in theory, allow our pocket portable devices to send and receive data around twice as fast as they do now, reports MIT Technology Review.
Explaining the current state of smartphone radios MIT Technology Review says that "Today’s radios must send and receive at different times to avoid drowning out incoming signals with their own transmissions. As a smartphone accesses the Internet via a cell tower, for example, its radio flips back and forth between sending and receiving, similar way to the way two people having a conversation take turns to speak and listen." However the newly developed 'circulator' circuit can isolate in and out traffic to enable full duplex.
Until now it has been prohibitive to install such tech into our pocketable devices, as circulators required powerful magnets made from rare earth metals. Thankfully the University of Texas circuit is "very cheap, compact, and light," according to associate professor Andrea Alù, who added "it's ideal for a cell phone". The 2cm wide circuit uses conventional circuit components arranged in a circle but the researchers say that it has the scope to be miniaturised easily and then added to existing smartphone designs "with little modification".
Backing up the University of Texas' new design Stanford professor Philip Levis called the new circulator a significant development, explaining "It's a very new way to look at a very old problem, and has some very good results". Now the Texas-based researchers are working to commercialise the designs.
