Based on the concept of a human’s inner ear, and its capability to figure out a wide range of frequencies in the sound spectrum, the team of associate professor Rahul Sarpeshkar and student Soumyajit Mandal at MIT have developed a ultra-broadband, low powered radio chip that’ll function as a universal wireless device for all electrical signals required by mobile devices.
The chip dubbed the radio frequency (RF) cochlea mimics the functional and biological concept of the inner ear, or cochlea. Thus, like the cochlea itself, the designed radio chip can perceive radio signals at million-fold higher frequencies required for wireless applications.
Inscribed on a silicon chip measuring 1.5 mm by 3 mm, the RF cochlea works as an analog spectrum analyzer detecting all electromagnetic signals in the vicinity. Consuming 100 times less power, the scientists have also filed a patent for the device, which could prove as a universal radio chip to process a broad spectrum of signals.
Via: MIT
