International prize for a wireless system of transmission of intelligent ‘data'
The article rewarded describes an application that allows to substitute systems wired up of transmission of data by other wireless, programmed to avoid of autonomous way the interferences. The application developed by the researchers of IK4-Ikerlan and Mondragon Unibertsitatea substitutes the transmission by wire of a video by two intelligent ‘devices', an emisor and a receptor, endowed of some characteristics that provide them a reliability that up to now do not ensure the wireless systems. This application could use, for example, to develop enclosed circuits of wireless television more reliable.
The enclosed circuits of television employed in the industrial companies have to face up to challenges at present insuperable for the wireless systems, since they have to guarantee that they will not lose images in some hostile surroundings for the communications without wire, because of the presence of a lot of metallic elements and to the own electromagnetic interferences of these surroundings.
The system developed by the researchers of IK4-Ikerlan and Mondragon Unibertsitatea is able to answer to this challenge thanks to that the emisor is programmed so that before transmitting review automatically that the frequency in which it pretends to do it was free. If it is it, it issues the signal, and if it is not it search of autonomous way another frequency that allow him do it. The receptor, by his part, is programmed to look for in all the frequencies which is the signal that corresponds him.
Based in ‘cognitive radios'
The device developed bases in the systems of wireless communication known like ‘cognitive radios'. It treats of systems that possess the capacity to change any of his characteristic (frequencies of transmission, type of modulation, standard of communication…) while they are in operation and of autonomous form, basing in an analysis of the surroundings in which they find . That is to say, the cognitive radios can consider devices of communication endowed of ‘intelligence'.
This system goes a step further of the known like ‘clear-cut radios by software' (rowing sports club). These systems of wireless communications (can be any device that communicate information, from mobile telephones, routers wifi, emisoras of radioaficionado, etc.) are able to realise the mentioned changes but no of autonomous way, and is the user the one who has to execute them.
An important novelty of the system developed by the researchers of IK4-Ikerlan and Mondragon Unibertsitatea is that the cognitive radio is implemented using the partial reconfiguration of the FPGAs, some programmable chips very used at present. The technician, known like ‘partial reconfiguration', allows to erase and reprogramar part of the chip while the rest of him is still working.
When using this technician in the cognitive radio, the change of frequency of transmission llevar erasing and reprogramando only the corresponding part of the chip, whereas the rest of functions (general control of the device, acquisition of data, analysis of the occupation of the frequencies…) are still working without interruption. This offers the possibility to change or add functionalities without need to turn off or interrupt the normal work of the system and, besides, achieve devices smaller and of lower consumption.
