MIT news reports that researchers have developed an alternative to the solid-state amplifiers that base stations now use to communicate with cell phones and other electronic devices. “Ribbon beam amplifiers (RBAs) are smaller,generate less heat,require smaller backup batteries,are more electrically efficient and cost thousands of dollars less than solid-state amplifiers.And because they could be mounted directly on a base-station tower,less signal decay would occur during transmission.These new amplifiers would enable the completion of next-generation wireless networks by dramatically improving throughput and reducing the cost of base stations by 65 percent”.The article says “RBAs have the potential to reduce the cost of delivering voice and data from the current 50 cents per megabyte to five cents per megabyte”.

MIT starts second wireless revolution