Turn PC enclosure into wireless antenna
- TAGS:Electriplast Integral Technologies, wireless, wireless networking
- IT TOPICS:Emerging Technology, Hardware, Mobile
Thomas Aisenbray thinks the enclosure around your PCs and laptops can do more than contain the device's digital innards and hold the glass display. It can also transmit signals. As the chief technology officer for Bellingham, Wash.-based Integral Technologies Inc. he's the primary driver behind a patented process that he claims turns a special polymer matrix he calls Electriplast into a superconductor ideal for wireless communications. As a result, PC makers would be able to eliminate the copper- and silicon-based communications chipsets used inside personal computers, saving production costs and freeing up real estate on the motherboard. Aisenbray also contends the flexible Electriplast would fit easily into manufacturers current production molds, so start-up costs would be minimal. He sees his invention as another way to improve wireless communications because, he asserts, signal gain from his invention would be stronger, permitting greater distances between PCs and wireless access points as well as potentially boosting bandwidth.
Aisenbray says his company is building prototypes today and has inked a deal with Jasper Rubber Products Inc. in Jasper, Indiana to build the units. He says the U.S. military will receive the first shipments later this year. He was not sure when commercial availability would begin.
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