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October 2, 2003
Wireless Buoyed by New Hybrid Transistor
New Scientist has a story about a new hybrid transistor developed by IBM researchers that would greatly improve the power efficiency of wireless devices.
"Ghavam Shahidi and colleagues from IBM's Watson Research Centre in New York claim the transistor could make wireless chips three times faster than current designs while using 80 per cent less power.Bipolar transistors are used because they are good at amplifying low power radio signals but are typically much less efficient than ordinary microprocessor transistors. Using a 'silicon-on-insulator' layer to reduce the capacitance of the bipolar transistors, the IBM team improved the speed at which they can switch on and off."
Supposedly, the new transistor would find its way into wireless products like 3G mobile phones and handhelds, and would benefit wireless data-intensive operations like streaming.
Read the whole story at New Scientist.