16 DECEMBER 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 382
SLOWWI-FISPEEDScan be
one of the most frustrating
things in modern life, but
that could change soon with
the launchof Wi-Fi 6.
Wi-Fi 6, or 802.11ax, will
not only make browsing and
downloadingfaster ,ita lso
promisesto boost the
battery lifeofp hones,
tablets and other devices,
and save energy and money.
If you thinkof a
traditional Wi-Fi network as being likeamotorwa y,
the data is the vehicles: theycan only travel in one
direction, andeven though theymay be ableto
change lanes, their ultimatedirectionof travel and
destination are the same.The first versionsof Wi-Fi
were narrow,sof ew cars/data packets could travel
on them. As standards improved, the ‘road’–the
bandwidth–was widenedto increase the number
of cars, and lanes were put into help handle this
flow of cars/data. However,asm ore cars joined,
the lanes became congested.
Wi-Fi 6solves this congestion problemby
using access points that can send datato multiple
devices all at once.Itw orks out how much
bandwidth is neededforasingle task and
reserves that amountof bandwidthforthat single
device ,while simultaneously doing the samefor
every other device it’s connectedto.For example,
a4Kvideo requires much more bandwidth than
sendingatweet, so the larger amountof data is
reserved and sentto the streaming device,and a
smaller packet is sentto Twitter ,without one
slowing down the other.
Wi-Fi 6technology also
has afeature calledTarget
Wake Time,inw hich Wi-Fi
radios built intodevices only
need to be on when they’re
sending or receiving data,
significantly boosting battery
lifeine verything from
phonesto smart light bulbs.
Wi-Fi 6isc apable of
reaching speedsof 9.6Gbit/s,
comparedto 3.5Gbit/s on
Wi-Fi 5(or 802.11ac).
However,these speeds are theoretical maximums
and are rarely,ife ver,achieved in real-worldtests.
Wi-Fi 6isq uoted as being around 30%faster than
Wi-Fi 5’saverage of around 1.2Gbit/s.
Currently,devices such as the Samsung Galaxy
Note10a nd the latest iPhone 11 models are Wi-Fi 6
certified. Netgear was oneof the firstto sell arange
of Wi-Fi 6routers under its Nightgear AX brand, and
other manufacturers, including Asus and TP-Link,
have also joined the roster.
But be fore you panic about accidentally buying a
Wi-Fi 6device you’re lackingasupporting routerfor,
you needn’t worry.All Wi-Fi6devices and routers
are backwards-compatible,meaning theywill work
with older Wi-Fi standards.
However,only certified devices will benefit from
the faster Wi-Fi6speeds. The plus sideto this is that
freeing up bandwidth and moreefficiently sending
data to Wi-Fi 6devices will haveaknock-oneffect
on the restof the network. It will clear the air,soto
speak, of those devices, making more bandwidth
available to older devices on your network, helping
to ease congestion and boost speeds.
Wi-Fi 6launches, promising anew era
of wireless connectivity
It’sclear that
wefell shortof
our high standards
in making it easyfor
youtounderstand
howyour data is
used, andwe
apologise”
Googlepromises it will no longer
listen into audio from its
Assistant users, unless they
have agreedto human review
Ve ryfew
people are
talking about this,
butifwearenot
careful one or more
of theseweapons,
these killerrobots,
could accidentally
startaflashwar,
destroyanuclear
powerstation
and cause
mass atrocities”
Ex-GooglerLaura Nolanworries
about AI startingawar
Wehad to
walk away
from some low-end
mobile shareaswell
as some channel
desktop share”
Jason Grebe,Intel’s Cloud
Platforms andTechnology Group
general manager,basically notes
the chip-maker has lost market
share to AMD
Human
speech to a
computer will
sound likevery
slowtonal
wheezing,kind of
likewhale sounds”
Elon Muskmusing on what
humans will sound liketo
future AIs
NEWRESEARCHFROMthe TransportResearch
Laboratory(TRL) estimates that almostaquarter
(22%) of collisions maybea voided by introducing
highly automated vehicles.
TRL anticipates that level 4/5 automated vehicles
will hit the streets atalevel of 4% by 2025,
increasingto 25% by 2030. These self-driving cars
require no human intervention during defined use
cases, such as motorwaydriving, with the driver
handingover full control.
The TRL study used
in-depth case analysis from
Road Accident In-Depth
Studies (RAIDS) and vehicle
fleet data, andfound that
by replacing one traditional
vehicle inacollision with an
autonomous car,an
estimated one in five
serious andfatal incidents
could be prevented.
The study further projectedareduction in
crashes involving vulnerable road users, junctions
and single-vehicle incidents. This could potentially
prevent upto 650 collisions resulting in serious and
fatal injuries annuallyby 2040 if between 8% and
19% of cars were automated.
The study was limitedto one- and two-vehicle
collisions that resulted in serious injury orfatality.
“Our analysis suggests the introductionof
automated vehiclesto our roads is likelyto bring
the biggest change in road
safety since the introduction
of the seatbelt,”TRL
Academy director Richard
Cuerden said.
“However,more data is
neededto build amore
in-depth and robust viewof
future collisions and
opportunitiesforimproving
occupant protection.”
Self-driving cars could reduce crashes by 22%
automated vehiclesto
opp
occ
