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5G Coming to Your Phone Via Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft

12/27/2020

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In the near future, your phone may take its 5G signal from the sky instead of a nearby mast on the ground. It's an innovative way to solve the problem of increasing connectivity without relying on thousands of terrestrial cell towers. The concept is known as a High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS), and it essentially takes the cell tower from the ground and puts it in the sky.

The latest HAPS project to be unveiled is from Great Britain – Stratospheric Platforms and Cambridge Consultants. Recently, the pair revealed the core of its efforts, a special antenna and crewless aircraft, which it has been working on confidentially for the last four years.

How will it work? Instead of talking to a nearby tower to get its signal, your phone talks to a three-square-meter antenna attached to hydrogen-powered aircraft with a 60-meter wingspan, flying at an altitude of 12 miles (20 kilometers). The aircraft, or HAP, is expected to stay aloft for at least a week, all the while providing 4G LTE and 5G network coverage over an area of about 86 miles (140 kilometers).

Phones don't give off a powerful signal, hence the antenna array's size on the aircraft, which has 4,000 radios working together inside it. The processing power is similarly immense, helping to steer and direct the beams toward the ground even when the aircraft is shifting around. The cooling system has to work at high altitudes, minimize drag, and keep the weight manageable. It's an exciting piece of technology in itself.

The aircraft itself, which is made of a composite material, has already been certified for use, so it's deemed safe and ready for flight in civil airspace. There's no pilot, and ground-based operators will only be involved during takeoff and landing. The hydrogen power cell is not only environmentally friendly, as it only produces water vapor and emits very little noise, but it also gives off a lot of power — it has been tested to 50KW in labs already — for a long duration. That's a lot more than the low-power solar power systems used on other HAP vehicles.

HAPS systems are also expected to be cheaper to implement. Building each aircraft reportedly saves 70% over the costs of building and installing a traditional mast. Then there's the space-saving and logistical benefits. According to research quoted by the team, it's estimated that an impractical sum of 400,000 5G masts will be needed to cover the U.K., for example, and each aircraft could replace around 200 of those masts.

What can you expect from the connection? The aircraft should return a smooth Sub-6 5G beamed signal offering speeds of 100Mbits per second and 1m/s latency to devices connected to it, which don't need any special software or hardware modifications. While a fleet of HAPS aircraft could provide enough coverage for an entire country, what's very interesting is that the unique modular design of the antenna enables targeted coverage.

This means a signal from a part of the antenna could be focused on an individual area like a motorway or even a single vehicle driving on it. The team said a fleet of 60 aircraft could cover the U.K. in its entirety, and the idea is for networks to partner with dedicated "airlines" that operate the planes.

Potential problems. This new technology forces networks to rethink how they currently work. Network operators are already installing a 5G network using traditional masts. Convincing them to bypass this and adopt a sky-bound service will take a lot of work. However, the team calls its stratospheric network complementary to a traditional terrestrial network and says the costs involved will be temptingly less than creating a widespread 5G network using only ground-based masts.
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When will it arrive? When can we expect to see Stratospheric Platforms HAPS system in operation? Deutsche Telekom is the project's initial investor and launch partner, and it has already tested an early version to show the system works. Stratospheric Platforms' aircraft is in preproduction now, with plans for the first prototype flight in 2022, while the antenna exists as a proof of concept and works with 3G, 4G, and 5G. It's anticipated the service will go live in 2024.
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How to Check if Amazon Alexa Is Stealing Your Internet Bandwidth for Sidewalk

12/20/2020

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Remember when Amazon (quietly) announced its expansion to Sidewalk, back in September? Well, the feature is live for some in a new update for the Amazon Alexa app, and you might want to go turn it off. We covered it in Issue 7-25.

Sidewalk is a feature that extends the network coverage of your devices, particularly Ring surveillance tech (like its cameras, smart lights, and pet trackers) and Echo smart speakers. But it'll also share a small chunk of that internet bandwidth to provide the same services to your neighbors – so your privately-owned devices won't be so private anymore. 

Sidewalk has been slowly rolling out to Echo and Ring owners in the U.S. as of Thanksgiving, which users were made aware of via an email from Amazon. While the feature isn't up and running yet, the email essentially notifies users that it's "coming soon." But it's also the company's discreet way of letting you know the feature has officially been turned on. 

Amazon makes it easy to opt out if you're only just unboxing your shiny, new Sidewalk-compatible device. During the setup process, users are asked if they want to join the network via the Amazon Alexa app. However, if you already own one of the 20 Sidewalk-enabled products, it'll automatically opt-in for you. 
To disable Sidewalk, all you need to do is: 

  • Update the Amazon Alexa app or double-check that you're on the latest version
  • Open the Amazon Alexa app and tap on the More tab
  • Then, tap Settings > Account Settings > Amazon Sidewalk and toggle off the Enabled button
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Thankfully, the additional Community Finding feature – which "can help your neighbors find pets and important items connected to Sidewalk by sharing the approximate location of [your] device and other Sidewalk bridges you own" is disabled automatically.

Of course, if you'd like to use Sidewalk on either your Echo smart speaker or Ring security device, you'll be happy to know you're already all set for when Amazon officially launches the new feature.

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5 Edge Computing Predictions for 2021

12/13/2020

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One of my ‘go-to’ technology research firms is Forrester Research. Recently, the firm said 2021 would be the year that edge computing graduates from experiment to practically applicable technology, primarily driven by AI and 5G. Edge computing is a technology that places the processing close to the data source rather than concentrated processing at a distant central location.

Forrester has released a bundle of tech predictions for 2021, and part of it is a firm claim about edge computing: 2021 is the year it will finally become a real value. 

“Until now, edge computing was promising but still developing. In 2021, new business models will emerge that facilitate the deployment of edge in production,” Forrester said in a summary of its predictions. 

The new business models that will push edge computing “from science project to real value” in 2021 are based mainly on two factors. Forrester said: Cloud platforms having to compete with artificial intelligence and the widespread proliferation of 5G will make edge use cases more practical.

With those two drivers in mind, Forrester made five predictions about how the tech world will evolve in 2021 that will directly impact edge computing.

Edge Hosting Will Evolve into a Full-Fledged Marketplace. Content delivery networks (CDNs) like Akamai and Fastly, Forrester said, are starting to target edge computing demands, leading to them reaching out to colocation companies to find small, widely distributed data centers where applications can be hosted closer to the populations they serve. 

Even large colocation firms lack the localized presence needed to meet edge computing demands, Forrester said. Those same large companies often obscure the small local players required to complete their edge services.

“In 2021, colocation marketplace aggregators like Edgevana and Inflect will emerge as attractive options for the CDNs and global colocation leaders serving enterprise needs, even in rural locales,” Forrester predicts.

Kubernetes Will Dominate, but There Won’t Be an Orchestration Winner. Forrester predicts that lightweight Kubernetes deployments will end up accounting for 20% of edge orchestration in 2021, but that doesn’t mean the battle for edge orchestration will end. Canonical, Huawei, OpenStack, Rancher, and other companies are also trying to expand their lightweight, edge-optimized platforms, and competition will be fierce in the year to come.

AI Will Leave the Data Center for the Edge. Forrester predicts that the use of AI in edge computing will undergo a significant shift in 2021: Instead of machine learning models being trained in the data center, learning will start to happen at the edge. 

That shift will be possible thanks to new chips from Intel and Nvidia and new machine learning techniques like reinforcement and federated learning. “Edge application intelligence will blossom in 2021 to accelerate digital transformation, especially in industries that must bridge the physical and digital worlds in real-time,” Forrester said.

Private 5G Networks Will Spread. Nationwide 5G from major telecom networks won’t be sufficient to meet edge computing needs, Forrester said. In its place will be private 5G networks deployed by companies and developed by manufacturers like Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia. 

In 2021, Forrester predicts, private 5G networks will be used in cases like factory floor automation, AR/VR for remote inspection, surveillance, quality assurance, remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, and employee safety.

Public Cloud Growth Will Slow While Edge Spending Will Grow. Forrester predicts the public cloud market will experience a growth decline from 42% in 2018 to 24% in 2022 due to market maturation. In its place will be an explosion of growth in edge computing, meaning more growth for companies that have invested in cloud-like solutions for edge computing and content delivery, not centralized data centers.
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Public cloud entities won’t disappear, but they won’t dominate the future of distributed computing, Forrester predicts. “Their culture is based on massive data centers and tight control of the architecture; the exact opposite of what firms need to serve customers locally. Vendors with a winning edge strategy will do better.” 
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What You Need to Know About Amazon Sidewalk

12/6/2020

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Amazon is now starting to roll out its Amazon Sidewalk local networking system to customers in the U.S. Here's what you should know about it.

First announced in September 2019, Sidewalk is a new idea and long-term effort for extending the smart home to entire smart neighborhoods by using various local networking options. 

On November 24th, Amazon began sending out emails to Echo device owners letting them know that an update with Amazon Sidewalk will soon be rolling out. Though the system will take time to build out, the first steps are happening now.

With that in mind, here are some of the essential points that users should know about Amazon Sidewalk.

What is Amazon Sidewalk? Amazon Sidewalk is a new type of wireless network that makes smart home capabilities much longer ranged. A Sidewalk Bridge connects to your Wi-Fi network and essentially extends the connectivity range beyond what your router can output. In some cases, Amazon says this range could be half a mile.

It works by using various communication protocols, such as 900MHz radio signals and Bluetooth Low-Energy, for inter-device communications. The system will intelligently switch between these protocols depending on the range and power needed.

These Sidewalk networks work a bit differently than your home Wi-Fi, however. The bandwidth in a Sidewalk network is open for not just your own devices, but your neighbors', too. It's a bit like a local mesh network, but across a neighborhood. 

Most Amazon device owners already have a Sidewalk Bridge in their homes. Recent Echo and Ring devices will soon receive over-the-air updates that will allow them to work as bridges.

Benefits of Amazon Sidewalk. As mentioned earlier, one of the first and primary goals of Amazon Sidewalk is to extend the range of your smart home gadgets. What that looks like in practical terms could differ depending on your smart home setup.

A Sidewalk network could, as an example, ensure that outdoor security cameras or lights have a working connection even if they're far from your Wi-Fi router. It could also mean faster connectivity if a device connects to a nearby Sidewalk Bridge instead of attempting to connect to a router farther away.

If you happen to drop a Tile device while walking around the neighborhood, it could still be within the range of the local Sidewalk network — and it'll be able to connect to the appropriate servers using a neighbor's Sidewalk bandwidth.

Sidewalk will also make the onboarding of devices much quicker and simpler. And Amazon envisions other uses, too, such as a pet safety service called Amazon Fetch that alerts users if their pet wanders outside of a preset perimeter.

Are there any downsides to Amazon Sidewalk? For one, Sidewalk isn't a replacement for a home Wi-Fi network. The bandwidth available on a Sidewalk network is pretty small — Amazon says the maximum bandwidth is just 80Kbps, with a cap at 500MB. As such, it's only useful for low-power devices like smart locks, security sensors, and Tile trackers.

There are, of course, security and privacy concerns, too. If your dog has a Sidewalk-connected tag on its collar, it means that you may be sending Amazon the location, duration, and frequency of all your dog walks. Amazon does have a white paper that explains some of its Sidewalk-related security policies.

Of course, there's also the question of it being a shared network. Although Amazon says it will encrypt all traffic sent through a Sidewalk network, users won't know who is on a specific network or how much traffic their neighbor might be sending over it.

All in all, users will only be able to exercise marginal control over their local Sidewalk networks. There isn't currently a way for users to figure out which Sidewalk Bridge their compatible devices are connected to.
Can I opt out of Sidewalk? The downsides and implications of Amazon Sidewalk wouldn't be as pressing if it weren't enabled by default. The system is opt-out instead of opt-in.

Once Amazon enables Sidewalk, users will see an information splash screen that explains what it is and what it does. There, they'll have the option to disable it — it'll be turned on by default.

Users will also be able to disable the local networking system through the Amazon Alexa app. The option is located in Settings > Account Settings > Amazon Sidewalk.
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If users do disable Sidewalk, their devices won't connect to their local neighborhood networks. On the flip side, neighbors won't be able to use their Sidewalk bandwidth, either.

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    Author

    Rick Richardson, CPA, CITP, CGMA

    Rick is the editor of the weekly newsletter, Technology This Week. You can subscribe to it by visiting the website.

    Rick is also the Managing Partner of Richardson Media & Technologies, LLC. Prior to forming his current company, he had a 28-year career in technology with Ernst & Young, the last twelve years of which he served as National Director of Technology.

    Mr. Richardson has been named to the "Technology 100"- the annual honors list of the 100 key achievers in technology in America. He has also been honored by the American Institute of CPAs with two Lifetime Achievement awards and a Special Career Recognition Award for his contributions to the profession in the field of technology.

    In 2012, Rick was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame by CPA Practice Advisor Magazine. He has also been named to the 100 most influential individuals in the accounting profession in America by Accounting Today magazine.

    In 2017, Rick was inducted as a Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achiever, a registry of professionals who have excelled in their fields for many years and achieved greatness in their industry.

    He is a sought after speaker around the world, providing his annual forecast of future technology trends to thousands of business executives, professionals, community leaders, educators and students.

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