from John OnseaEditor
It’s that time again. Let’s take a look at the most read articles that appeared on RF Globalnet this year. There is intrigue, tension and surprises. Oh, and mmWaves, drones, jamming and more.
I was doing research for this article and – lo and behold – I stumbled upon it Cosmopolitan’s article on the best pop moments of 2023. Mmmm, things on this list include naughty babies, big red boots, Selena’s blanket, Brynn Whitfield’s wedged heels, and more.
So, I get that I’m “old”, but this list could have been written in a foreign language and I wouldn’t understand it any less. But what I do understand—at least more than Miss USA wearing a 30-pound moonsuit—is the most-read articles on our site over the past year.
Using good old-fashioned Google Analytics, I took quarter-by-quarter which articles you liked the most. So sit back and enjoy this trip down memory lane – a trip that I assure you will not include any talk of Prince Harry’s little man.*
* Yes, I had to google that term and it certainly surprised me to find out that it’s British slang for a specific part of the male anatomy.
Advantage, semiconductors and double vision
The most read material for the first quarter was that of three emerging military intelligence technologies you should be aware of. In it, we looked at two new technologies—edge computing and networking and digital intelligence—as well as a new spin on a legacy technology, the next-generation troposcatter.
A look at why the US is pressure on Japan and the Netherlands on China’s exclusion from the semiconductor chain was the second most read article of the quarter. At number three was this collection which included stories about Device for EB which was causing concern among Ukrainian forces, the shortest electronic pulses ever and much more.
The top five was completed with a look at digital twin and RF interleaving and application note from our friends at Rohde & Schwarz explaining how the angle of arrival (AoA) capabilities of EW receivers can be tested with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) RF test equipment.
Lots of war related stuff
It should come as no surprise that most of what we’ve written about the technology used in the war in Ukraine has gotten a lot of attention, including this article about what we’ve learned about the use of software defined radio (SDR). In this, the most popular article of the second quarter, we looked at how radios affect the evolution of warfare, starting with Russia’s ability to ground unmanned aerial systems by jamming and spoofing signals needed for SDR in these tools.
This action rendered the Ukrainians unable to provide aerial surveillance and reconnaissance, and at the same time the Russians attempted to jam air defense radars, rendering command and control efforts useless.
Such lessons underscored the U.S. military’s pursuit of secure communications capabilities with Maj. Gen. Jett B. Ray, director of the Network Cross-Functional Team at Army Futures Command, saying, “What we’re seeing in Ukraine reinforces the need for secure communications and greater mobility and survivability,” Ray said. “There is also great innovation happening with our Soldiers supporting operations in Europe.”
Second was a look at the possibility that X-ray glasses were becoming a reality. Well, not really, but we have the next best thing: augmented reality with off-site perception.
According to me, MIT researchers (come on, engineers!) combined augmented reality and off-site-line perception to create a little thing they call X-AR. This new technology has many applications in retail, warehousing, manufacturing, smart homes and more, and can help users find missing items and direct them to those items for retrieval.
“X-AR uses wireless signals and computer vision to allow users to perceive things that are invisible to the human eye (ie, provide perception beyond the line of sight),” notes MIT. “It combines new antenna designs, wireless signal processing algorithms and AI-based fusion of different sensors.”
A look at history and modern use of submarine cables (did you know they were first used during the Civil War?) is in third place, followed by a look at why you should know what private 5G networks are. Our friends in AH systems came in at number five, explaining how to best use antenna factors.
I may have peaked in Q3
One of my favorite research and writing articles was the most read of the third quarter story behind Wow! Alert. We traveled back to Big Ear on August 15, 1977 and received a startling radio signal: 6EQUJ5.
What was thought to be a seemingly random sequence of numbers and letters was actually a powerful radio signal from deep space, the origin of which remains unknown to this day. The most famous theory: it came from an intelligent extraterrestrial source.
The second place belonged to this view of whether it is too late for mmWave to save 5G. The short answer is that it’s complicated, but we learned that the six million dollar man would be worth approximately &28 billion in today’s dollars!
The war in Ukraine served as inspiration for stories three and four, a look at the role of drones in current and future military operations and report that Ukraine allegedly used low-tech drones to blow up Kursk airport.
Last but certainly not least was Exodus Advanced Communications white paper focusing on high power RF/microwave amplifiers and how they respond to the common voltage standing wave factor problem.
Something old, something new
The first and second most read articles for the fourth quarter were related to the military. First up was another article inspired by the war in Ukraine, this one looking at what is being learned about electronic warfare (EW) in general and specifically for muting.
EW is a broad field that encompasses various techniques and technologies used to manipulate or use the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) for military purposes. Electronic jamming is a form of EW that uses radio signals to interfere with enemy radar and is intended to impair the ability of radars or radios to perform their tasks or even prevent them from doing so altogether.
Muting is not a recent discovery, as we point out in our number two most read article, The Dieppe attack and what it taught us about silencing. This article is another crowd favorite and, inspired by the Everything Everywhere Daily podcast, tells the story of the disastrous amphibious assault at Dieppe on the northeast coast of Normandy in August 1942 and what it taught the Allies not to do on D-Day. Lessons Learned from the failed raid still shape military decisions today.
Number three was a medium dive into what real age of the universe the answer is somewhere between 13.8 billion and 30 billion years. The right answer comes down to which group of experts you find most persuasive.
The five most read articles for the fourth quarter ended with a look at 11 things you might not know about EM simulation software (you won’t believe it, number nine!) and a guest column contributed by Brendan McHugh and Abdullah Mughis. The guest column discusses how SDRs are used to control unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and while I don’t want to spoil the ending, it summarizes all the risks, challenges and mitigations of UAVs in enemy territory. He also may hold the record for footnotes with a total of 18 of them!
It’s the little things
Although I enjoyed writing all of these stories, I, like any good parent, had my favorites. In addition to stories about Wow! Signal and Dieppe Raid, I enjoyed learning and writing Frankenstein, Prometheus and what they have to do with 5G, 6G and IoT; the race to build Project Orion; Nobel Prize winners and Halloween; and the role oscillators played in the history of music.
I hope you enjoyed reading everything I wrote as much as I enjoyed writing it. And please feel free to email me ([email protected]) or contact me at LinkedIn if you have something you want me to write about.
Thanks for a great year and here’s to an even better 2024!
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