Radio Uh-Oh

摘要

It looked like a catastrophe: the fail light lit up on the 737'S air traffic control receiver. The Traffic Alert & Collision Avoid- ance System lost track of nearby planes and the instrument landing system went haywire. All because NASA electromagnetics research engineer Jay Ely had switched on an ultra-wideband (UWB) transmitter―a much-ballyhooed new technology that uses low-power, high-speed pulsed radio signals instead of conventional radio waves to send information over a broad spectrum of frequencies. Thank goodness it was only a test. The jet was safely parked as Ely and his colleagues tried out portable electronic devices to see if they would interfere with aircraft systems. What they found has put the Next Big Thing in wireless communication on a collision course with high-tech aviation.