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 Do we have enough engineering skills for digital fieldbuses?
by Rob MacKenzie, MD, Endress+Hauser
It costs more to maintain plant instrumentation than to purchase it in the first place? There are now more than 30-million PROFIBUS nodes installed worldwide. Yet in South Africa we are seeing a trend to steer away from these technologies for instrumentation... (more)
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What is a qbit?
by Roy Johnson, EngineerIT
Quantum computing is based on different mathematics and different hardware from conventional, binary computing. Still in development, it will have unique advantages when it becomes a reality... ( more) |
Beyond silicon - have we come to the end?
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
According to Andy Brauer, CTO of Business Connexion, although the limits of silicon are being pushed, there is an ultimate physical limit of the speeds that can be achieved. Perhaps what the chip manufactures have achieved thus far is something we can live with - well at least for the time being... ( more) |
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The battle for broadband - tomorrow is around the corner
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
At the recently-held Battle for Broadband Symposium arranged by EngineerIT, speakers offered many new insights into how the battle for broadband is being won. In many cases, not as fast as most of us would like but progress is being made... ( more) |
Don't discount wireless in favour of fibre
by Richard Smuts-Steyn, Multisource Telecoms
As the telecoms industry gears itself up for a year of both exponential growth and fundamental regulatory changes, so the strategic choices and decisions adopted by the market will determine... ( more) |
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Next generation networks - too much hype?
EngineerIT recently conducted a panel discussion around the question: "How have next generation networks (NGNs) changed the face of the communications business in SA? Panellists were Paul Inglesby of Telkom, Geoff Carey of Tellumat Wireless Solutions and Rudie Raath of HP... ( more) |
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More international connectivity on the way for SA
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
The East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) - one of the nine undersea telecommunications cables that will connect various parts of sub-Saharan Africa to the rest of the world by 2011 - will go into operation in August this year...
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Industry buzz at National Electronics Week South Africa
South Africa has seen electronics exhibitions in the past but the new National Electronics Week SA (NEW SA) held in association with ADEC at the Sandton Convention Centre from 9 - 10 March has raised the bar. The introduction of seminars also attracted a lot of interest... ( more) |
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Rechargeable batteries - new-age technology?
While Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) batteries offered an energy density double that of lead acid cells, and the batteries could withstand a high rate of charging and discharging, it was the memory effect that users disliked... ( more) |
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3D CMOS photodiode modelling and simulator design
by Paul Ellinghaus and Jannes Venter, CEFIM, University of Pretoria
The Carl and Emily Fuchs Institute for Microelectronics (CEFIM) has been involved in cutting-edge semiconductor research since its inception. As a main focus of interest, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) is arguably the most successful semiconductor technology to date... (more) |
Wireless technology in industrial automation
by Henk van der Bent, Yokogawa, Netherlands
The use of wireless technology in industrial automation systems offers a number of potential benefits, from the obvious cost reduction brought about by the elimination of wiring to the availability of better plant information, improved productivity and better asset management... ( more) |
Monitoring healthcare in rural areas
by Dr. Gregory Cline, Intel South Africa
There are many efforts across the continent focusing on tele-medicine and tele-health with the aim of reducing costs and improving access to healthcare. These efforts range from complex electronic medical projects to digitising X-rays and automating data capture in hospitals... ( more) |
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The case for standardising instrumentation from one supplier
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
There are many arguments for and against the idea of standardising on instrumentation from one supplier, and not to mix and match systems from various suppliers. Over the past five years there has been a substantial amount of rationalisation in the instrumentation industry... ( more) |
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Controlling the gas flow
by Zhimei Feng, ABB, China and Fei Wang, and Xiaoxing Bi, CNOOC Fugan LNG, China
A constant supply of natural gas to power stations and marketing networks is maintained through integrated production, transportation and distribution. The authors discuss how SCADA systems improve liquefied natural gas operations and management of a plant in China... ( more) |
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Intelligent and adaptive user interface simplified
by Dr. Tony Lange, Optin
Optin has recently done some process control projects where very focused and precise graphical information proved to be vital to the proper running of a new and advanced process plant... ( more)
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Innovation in amateur radio
While amateur radio is one of the oldest and still the most rewarding of all the scientific hobbies, there comes a time when one has to look at innovation, new ideas and new technologies to keep the activities relevant and exciting... ( more) |
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Telecoms developments in Africa
compiled by Matthew White, Iona Press Services
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Commonwealth to focus on rural area connectivity
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Mozambique's digital broadcasting options
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Zambia seeking to offload loss-making Zamtel
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Bharti shares fall on news of bid to buy Zain Africa
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Pirates force EASSy rerouting at a cost of US$6-million
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Setback for launch of Zimbabwe National ICT strategic plan
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Sub-marine cable project should go live in June
- Talk to be cheaper in Namibia
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Privatisation of Nitel hits early snag ... (more) |
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Gadgets for geeks
This headset with an intuitive touch screen is is not really a gadget: the Jabra Pro 9400 is a serious communications tool... ( more) |
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SA should take its satellite launch facility out of mothballs
NASA'S Chandra reveals origin of key cosmic explosions
Another node for the International Space Station
NASA and Italian Space Agency find new use for module
FRD sponsors students for SA Amsat SpaceSymposium... (more) |
Industry and institute news
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