Articles, videos, and webinars are great for imparting knowledge, but, a good conference creates connections and conversations that spark ideas and actions. Last week’s NCTC Winter Educational Conference, WEC20, was on target and may have even illuminated a missing link that ties together a communications and mobility network. More on that, in a future post.
Persevere with the Grit of Yesterday’s Leaders #WEC20
At WEC20, Rich Fickle reminded attendees of the difficult and uncertain trail forged by the pioneers who built the industry pole-by-pole and subscriber-by-subscriber. Fickle reminded attendees on stage and in this ViodiTV video interview to persevere through the challenges of pushing the network and the associated services it enables even further.
To Fiber or To Filter, That Is the Question
“To fiber or to filter” is the decision that operators will have to make later this year, according to Ross Lieberman, Senior Vice President of Regulatory for ACA Connects. Speaking at NCTC’s WEC 2020, Lieberman was referring to one of the choices that operators will have to make as they participate in the FCC’s plan to transition frequencies typically used for satellite downlinks for what the FCC terms, “flexible use… for 5G and other advanced wireless deployments .“ The FCC is slated to vote at its February 28th Open Commission Meeting on a Report and Order that would reallocate the 3.7-3.98 GHz portion of the C-Band (3.7-4.2 GHz) for use in terrestrial wireless networks (e.g. 5G).
A Holistic Power View of 5G
Could the billions and billions of devices IoT promised by the rollout of 5G have an unintended impact of destabilizing or even taking down the grid? That was a question that bothered Brian Zahnstecher last year. Zahnstecher, Principal at PowerRox is well-positioned to answer this question, as he and his firm consult on power electronics at both the system and circuit level. Zahnstecher is also the co-chair of the IEEE, International Network Generations Roadmap (INGR) Energy Efficiency Working Group, which is focused on the energy impact of 5G networks.
Is This Mini-Mobility Solution Really a Packet Bus? #CES2020
A bus that dynamically changes size is one way to think about Kiwee’s two-person vehicles. These electric vehicles are designed to be coupled to improve throughput in denser areas and then go there own way to the less dense areas where there typically wouldn’t be bus coverage. From a rider perspective, the experience is similar to a car-sharing service.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts:
- Could one monitor an ONT optical receiver to measure earthquakes, as a distributed early warning system? @PlateauTweets “It’s not just earthquakes, @penn_state researchers were able to track thunderstorms thanks to underground fiber optic cables!”
- RT @ChelseyColbert “The IOT Assistant app lets people know what IOT devices are around them. Great idea, but relies on ppl uploading info about sensors to the registry. It’d be great to take it a step further & allow my phone to sense the sensors.” Hmmm….
- @Marketing_Pilot “@NCTCtweets Announces New Initiative to offer discount Amazon Fire Stick devices to members! #WEC20.” Operators should see @SeeOtterTV about getting their YouTube content on an Amazon channel as SeeOtterTV did for ViodiTV a couple of years ago.
- @Jeff_Abramowitz “Tangible demonstration of the latency benefits of #6GHz.” WiFi6E – 2 milliseconds latency. Wow.
Vehicle as a Service #CES2020
Canoo, a young start-up promises to revolutionize the way people use a car with a direct-to-consumer, subscription model for an all-electric, all-wheel drive, multipurpose vehicle. As revolutionary as their model is that they were able to go from concept to drivable prototype in less than a year, thanks to the computer-aided design, simulation, and test capabilities of Dassault.
Their electric skateboard, with a wheelbase that is about the same as a Prius, allows a body that has the volume of an SUV and a drive-by-wire capability that provides a path to autonomy. Their recent announcement with Hyundai and Kia is a huge endorsement of Canoo’s design approach.
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