Can radio devices as small as ants ' size change our lives?

Engineers at Stanford and Berkeley have developed a radio device that is only as small as ants, and is likely to be used as a controller or sensor in future IoT environments.

The wireless device uses a tiny silicon chip, because the overall size is small (on the top right) so the cost is not high. The main function is to help compute, execute, and deliver requirements. More specifically, "small ants" (convenient to the author himself, not the official name) is from the electromagnetic signal to obtain electricity, so do not need battery support, but also means that this product can be free from the shackles and exist alone.

Amin Arbabian, a researcher at Stanford University, said: "We want to reinvent the radio technology at the root, so that it can be malleable and, in any device, even a very small, dense area, you can do the work."

Previous developers have been more concerned about radio equipment components and performance upgrades, and the "small ant" is focused on micro, light energy and cost-effective, from another perspective to innovate. At the same rate of transmission, a "small ant" antenna accounted for only one-tenth of the WiFi antenna, officials said.

From future use scenarios, although there is already technology to achieve data transmission between devices and smartphones, "little ants" are likely to stand out because of their very low cost performance and complete mobility. Please watch the video