Creating technology for sustained development
by Prof. Tania Hanekom, University of Pretoria The technological world has changed significantly over the past century from a mainly mechanical-driven one to an electrically controlled one. The past century saw the development of the transistor in the 1940s and the arrival of the first... ( more) |
In conversation with Sipho Madonsela, ECSA
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EE Publishers ECSA is a statutory body established in terms of the Engineering Profession Act (EPA), 46 of 2000. The ECSA's primary role is to regulate the engineering profession in terms of this Act. Its core functions are the... ( more) |
 Information security: The biggest barrier to the IoT
by Mark Warren, Gemalto
Research conducted by Telecom Intelligence has revealed that information security remains the biggest inhibitor of the development of the internet of things (IoT), with 42% of respondents identifying security as one of the top two challenges... ( more)
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Compiled by Hans van de Groenendaal, EE Publishers
While it originated in the context of computer software development, today the term "open source" denotes a set of values - the open source way. Open source projects, products, or initiatives are those that embrace and celebrate open exchange, collaborative... ( more) |
Best practices in hazardous area IPC design
by Thomas Nuth and Sean Huang, Moxa
As the oil and gas industry moves toward the digital age, control and asset management is becoming more safe and efficient. However, to ensure that your oil and gas operation will run continuously, mission-critical panel computing systems cannot be delicate and hard... (more) |
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Many-core control: automation technology with endless possibilities
by Dr. Josef Papenfort, Beckhoff Automation
Automation technology functions are determined more and more with software. In addition to pure PLC applications, tasks from the areas of motion and safety control, robotics and measurement technology are increasingly integrated into the application. More software also... ( more)
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Signal conditioning - what is it?
by Andreas Grimsehl, Pepperl + Fuchs, Germany
Efficiency and availability of production facilities depend on the reliable transmission of signals between field devices and the process controller. Interference in the signal circuit may cause related processes to run incorrectly. It is the task of the galvanic isolation function... (more)
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Power integrity: identifying possible sources of supply noise
by Kenny Johnson, Keysight Technologies
Thanks to the continued fulfilment of Moore's Law and the explosion of the affordable microcontroller we all enjoy a wide variety of electronic products packed with ever increasing functionality and features. These modern feature-rich products require better quality DC power... ( more)
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A competitor for graphene
Compiled by Hans van de Groenendaaal, EE Publishers
Graphene, the only one atom thick carbon network, achieved overnight fame with the 2010 Nobel Prize. But now comes competition: Chemists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now developed a semiconducting material in which individual phosphorus atoms... (more)
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Zero-drift amplifiers: now easy to use in high precision circuits
by Vicky Wong and Yoshinori Kusuda, Analog Devices
A zero-drift amplifier, as the name suggests, is an amplifier with offset voltage drift very close to zero. It uses auto-zero or chopping technology, or a combination of both, to continuously self-correct for DC errors over time and temperature. This enables the amplifier... (more)
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Merging legacy and IP traffic eases 4G evolution
Information from Saab Grintek
The impact of smartphones, internet appliances and 4G are combining to speed up the evolution away from legacy backhaul solutions and toward high capacity packet microwave systems. The Horizon Harmony platform has delivered a converged, software upgradable system that... (more)
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It's not a cable, it's an antenna!
by Keith Blodorn, Prosoft Technology
Why would someone want a cable that acts like an antenna? After all, much research and development has gone into improving cable shields precisely to prevent this! As it turns out, there are several conditions in industrial communication systems where using a radiating... (more)
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Microwave: adapt, innovate or die
Information from Broadlink
Microwave-based service providers need to evolve if they are to remain relevant - it is all about being flexible and agile. Microwave technologies have a valuable role to play, but service providers and technology need to evolve to meet different market demands, as well as being... ( more) |
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Digital integrated radio system for disaster management
by Aimée Clarke, EE Publishers
In the midst of a disaster, whether natural or man-made, communication between emergency services and utilities is essential. Commercial communication techniques cannot be relied on as they are costly, inefficient, and vulnerable in a disaster. The City of Cape Town... ( more) |
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Addressing the 4G and 5G backhaul capacity challenge
Information from Mimotech
Achieving sufficient capacity to meet the forecast backhaul needs over the next few years will be a major challenge. This article describes the technique of air division duplexing (ADD), which makes use of MIMO and spatial multiplexing techniques to achieve simultaneous... ( more) |
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Gadgets 4 Geeks
Compiled by Hans van de Groenendaal, EE Publishers
- Add six hours operating time to your laptop
- Cycling - keep informed and analyse performance
- Fitness checking with a smart watch
- Omni-directional sound... (more)
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Compiled by Aimée Clarke, EE Publishers
- Southern African countries to cut roaming charges
- New smartphone launched in Nigeria
- Upgrade to West Africa cable system
- Cross-border mobile money service for Rwanda
- Nigeria: Second-hand e-commerce site revealed
- Uninterrupted connectivity for Africa's Western Region
- East African online trading portal connects farmers and buyers
- Sharp rise of African content on network... (more)
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With industry support amateur radio can make engineering cool
by Hans van de Groenendaaal, ZS6AKV, SARL
It is unlikely to be a coincidence that worldwide, the countries that have large electronics industries also have the largest number of amateur radio "hams"; for example the USA, Korea and Japan. Amateur radio is the oldest scientific hobby in the world. It started with the... (more)
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