Seasonal Spuds (aka Potatoes)

[PAXboy]

This story is serious but is good for a seasonal smile:

Boeing uses potatoes instead of people to test wi-fi
BBC News - Boeing uses potatoes instead of people to test wi-fi (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20813441)

It would be interesting to hear our learned co-passenger radeng on the topic. :ok:

Happy Holiday Season (unless you got caught out by the Mayans and are reading this from the TERMINAL Terminal ... :eek: but you will then have your own kind of wi-fi that uses the strings of a harp to txmt. :}

[EEngr]

http://www.pediastaff.com/uploads/resources/mr-potato-head.jpg

[radeng]

PAXBoy,

They aren't a very good substitute. A much better one is the one used for testing medical implants at 2.5 GHz (ETSI EN 301 559 - ETSI is the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, headquartered in Sophia Antipolis, near Antibes.)

Table A.1
Frequency 2,5 GHz
Quantity (%)
H20 63,9
Sugar 34
NaCl 0
HEC (see note) 2
Bacteriacide 0,1
Total 100
NOTE: Hydroxyethylcellulose.

The tube shall have a length of 1,7 m ± 0,1 m and an internal diameter of 300 mm ± 5 mm with side wall thickness of 1,5 mm  0,5 mm.
To reduce the weight of the simulated man it may be possible to use an alternative tube that has a hollow centre of 200 mm maximum diameter.


But I suppose potatoes are easier......But I doubt very much that we will use write them into ETSI or CENELEC or ISO standards!

You might guess that I am professionally heavily involved these days with wireless medical applications, standards and regulations.....

Merry Christmas to all..

[PAXboy]

Very interesting, Professor Radeng.

The article describes tests to see how 'humans' affect radio propagation in a specific space, presuemably you are concerned more about what gets into the 'human'?

Are you testing what absorbtion the dummy has? Do you have sensors inside the dummy to see what is penetrating the 'skin' and 'organs'?

Oh yes, a Merry Season to all the humans and dummies of the PAX forum (You get to decide which group you are in - and which I'm in. :p

[Pegpilot]

I've heard that the trial was a failure and the system will need to be re-chipped....

Happy Christmas from the gliding fraternity.

[PAXboy]

Thanks for the update Pegpilot. Sounds like they may have to peel away some layers for retesting.

[radeng]

Pax boy,

There's the case of the 'artifical man' for testing implants, where you're interested in how the radio in, for example, a pacemaker performs with the body losses, and there's also the case for radios attached to the body e.g in a pocket, for which you use the same 'artificial man' recipe. Just in one case, the radio sits on a shelf in the gunk, and in the other it's attached to the outside.

It gets VERY messy if the container leaks.....

But this is repooducible, while using an animal or human corpse isn't. Especially as a dead body has different electrical characteristics to a live one.The university in Belfast even published a paper on propagation of 400 MHz signals from a vaginal implant....At which the mind somehow boggles, and no, the people doing it weren't pric*s!

YOU DID ASK!

And with the potatoes, I hope they're careful with eyes!

[PAXboy]

Hhmmm, I never realised the work of a radio engineer was so, uummm, fascinating. I may have to retrain ...

Of course, pr†¢k$ are needed - as you have to pr†¢k potatoes to see if they are ready. :)

[radeng]

There was an enquiry from an Australian company regarding the possibilities of using one of our implant transceivers in an implant for controlling (?) erectile dysfunction. The thought of the disappointment if interference occurs at the the wrong moment...........

Radio engineering has been a very interesting career. These days, I'm mainly a meetings engineer.......until retirement next summer.

[PAXboy]

C-breaker closed? Check http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/evil.gif
Raise the undercarriage ;)

Up in three greens :ok:
<pause>

Female Voice: "Ladies & Gentleman, the Captain informs me that someone has left their mobile phone on and he is getting the wrong kind of interference. Please check all your personal equipment now."

<longer pause>
"Thank you Ladies & Gentleman, please prepare yourself for [ahem] arrival..."



Established on Finals. :}

Hold her steady, lad. :cool:

Flaps for landing. :ooh:
:mad:
Reset breakers. "Yes Sir!"

[radeng]

The possibilities are enormous........

But pn a more serious note, lab work with implanted radio transceivers is not for the squeamish......

Happy Christmas!