Computer Program Enhances TCP
Certain things are at the core of the Internet, and without them the Internet simply could not exist as we know it today. Among these is the Transmission Control Protocol, or TCP, which has among its responsibilities regulating the rate at which data is sent between computers, to ease congestion. For years human engineers have been tweaking TCP to improve performance, and now researchers at MIT have developed an artificial intelligence to do the same.
There are many things the human brain is able to do well, but there are some things computers can do better, and among them is managing complex systems. A human engineer can certainly work with a network consisting of a few connections, but when a handful or more computers are added, the network becomes very hard to work with. The machine learning program, Remy, however thrives in these situations, as it can quickly test a multitude of protocols, to determine which is best for the situation. Unlike the human-made protocols, Remy's can consist of over a hundred rules, and exactly why these rules work as well as they do is still being examined.
The researchers, who will be showing Remy off at the conference for the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Data Communication, have tested it on a standard simulation system called ns-2 and on a simulation of Verizon's cellular data network. Remy's solution for ns-2 ended up doubling throughput and cutting delay by more than half, while the solution for Verizon improved throughput by 20-30% and delay by 25-40%.
Source: MIT
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Record-Setting Ultrathin Light-Absorber Built
For many areas of technology, thin is in, including laptops, phones, tablets, and solar panels. Shrinking a dimension can have a powerful impact on a device's properties, including drastically reducing cost, which is important if you want the technology to be widely adopted. Researchers at Stanford University have recently built the thinnest light-absorbing material in the world, which also has record-breaking efficiency.
Building something just nanometers in size can be very challenging, but it also enables one to precisely control a material's properties. In this case the material was comprised of trillions of gold nanodots, just 14 nm tall and 17 nm wide, atop a thin wafer with a thin-film coating covering it all. The thin film was applied using atomic layer deposition, which allowed the researchers to tune the system by manipulating the thickness of the coating around the dots. This tuning resulted in the light-absorber being able to absorb 99% of 600 nm light, which is reddish-orange in color. Such efficiency is not possible with larger materials in part because of how far the energized electrons have to travel to an electrode, but within this material it is a short trip.
The researchers are now looking into using materials other than gold, which was selected for its chemically stability, as other materials could be cheaper and be better suited for solar energy conversion. Ideally a solar cell can harvest energy from the entire visible spectrum, and not from a single frequency.
Source: Stanford University
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Photodetector Created for Polarized Light
Much of the light we see is made up of unaligned waves that impact our eyes at every angle, but some light is polarized, so all of the waves are aligned in one direction. Human eyes cannot distinguish polarized light, nor can most devices, so when an application calls for it, a grating will be placed in front of a detector. Researchers at Rice University and Sandia National Laboratories though have created a broadband photodetector with the intrinsic ability to discern polarized light using carpets of nanotubes.
Carbon nanotubes are tubes just nanometers wide, but can be quite long and semiconducting, causing them to interact with only specific frequencies of light. Normally when they are produced, the nanotubes will be of different lengths and aligned in different directions, but the researchers found a way to use Teflon film to flatten them into carpets aligned in one direction. This alignment causes the nanotubes to only detect light polarized in the same direction, and the variety of lengths allows them to interact with a range of frequencies.
To actually turn the nanotube-carpet into a photodetector, the researchers had to dope the carpets to be positively and negatively charged. By overlapping the different carpets, a p-n junction is formed, like those found throughout microelectronics.
Source: Rice University
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New Technique for Measuring Plasmonic Materials
Every materials has special properties that arise from its composition, size, and shape, and for that reason the ability to measure those three characteristics is very valuable. Researchers at NIST have recently devised a new method to make those measurements simultaneously by taking advantage of plasmonic effects.
Plasmonics is a branch of physics that deals with light and matter interacting in specific ways, as plasmonic materials are able to couple photons and electrons to form plasmons. The researchers have taken advantage of this by building plasmonic nanostructures on top of a sample they wish to study. When an infrared laser shines on the sample, the nanostructures enhance the absorption of the light by the sample by as much as 30 times. This causes changes in the sample that an atomic force microscope is able to measure.
An important advantage of this technique over others is how straightforward its results are. Other methods can affect the material being analyzed, making it necessary to separate the response of the sample from the response of the probe. This method does not require those additional steps, simplifying the work.
Source: NIST
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Hardware Roundup: Monday Edition
Our roundup for the day takes a look at items from a broad range of categories. The intrepid modders over at Think Computers created a red and black themed design using an acrylic case from Parvum. A security system from Rosewill could prove to be extremely useful for anyone looking to keep an eye out on their property. The Razer Orbweaver is a gaming keypad that features 20 keys with Cherry MX Blue switches for anyone looking to customize their gaming experience. The Lian Li D8000 is a massive case built on the HPTX form factor that offers 140% more space than a standard ATX case. The ZOWIE Mashu gaming headset combines comfort and functionality with large earcups and an adjustable microphone. Finally we have the MSI Z87 XPower motherboard, designed for the latest Haswell processors from Intel and with plenty of overclocking features built-in.
Case Mods
Parvum Extreme MbK Case Mod @ Think Computers
Security System
Rosewill RSVA-12001 DVR Security Camera System @ Benchmark Reviews
Gaming Accessories
Razer Orbweaver @ LanOC Reviews
Cases
Lian Li D8000 @ Tech Spot
Headsets
ZOWIE Mashu Gaming Headset @ Mad Shrimps
Motherboards
MSI Z87 XPower @ Bjorn3D
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