Principal Investigator Dava Newman
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Assistant
Ben Armstrong
The evolution of communication technologies over the past 140 years has enabled ubiquitous connectivity with billions of sensors globally. However, today’s technologies still face fundamental obstacles, which prevent them from seamlessly extending to complex domains like the ocean, the human body, or supply chain environments. -------------------------------------------
When radios communicate with each other, the transmitter spreads its signal in all directions. Hence only a small fraction of what is transmitted hits the receiver. Radios with multiple antennas can beamform, i.e., direct their signal so more of it reaches the receiver. How precisely a radio can beamform depends fundamentally on its size; a larger radio with more antennas can direct its signal better than smaller radios. Unfortunately, practical constraints on mobile and IoT devices prevent us from making radios large.