Using Humans as Antennas for 6G

This is an article in Popular Mechanics from January of 2023.

Scientists want to use people as antennas to power 6G. I'll just read the article.

We don't know exactly how 6G wireless technology is going to work,

but researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst believe using humans as

antennas to power 6G may be the most viable way

to harvest additional energy that would otherwise get wasted.

In the always present effort to speed up informational exchange,

scientists have already started investigating visible light communication, VLC,

basically a wireless version of fiber optics that uses

flashes of light to transmit information.

Adding VLC to

6G spurred the UMass Amherst team to dig even deeper. First, some background on 6G.

As a refresher, 5G,

what is considered the fifth and most recent generation of

cellular broadband networks, is still in its infancy.

True 5G networks operate in

millimeter wave frequency between 30 and 300 gigahertz,

which are 10 to 100 times higher

frequency than previous 4G cellular network.

Some cell phone providers cheat,

however, by claiming the upper end of the 4G spectrum as 5G.

The definition of these cellular generations are defined by a global partnership

known as 3GPP. Given the history of the never ending march of technology,

it's inevitable that 5G will be replaced by a new network in the future.

It just isn't entirely clear what 6G will be.

In the meantime,

in the new study, the UMass Amherst scientists found that humans can play a crucial

role in making VLC more efficient by using their bodies as a carrier for coiled

copper to catch waste energy from VLC.

Lead study author,

I don't know how to say his name,

UMass Amherst Professor of Information and Computer Sciences explains,

VLC is quite simple and interesting.

Instead of using radio signals to send information wirelessly, it uses the

light from LEDs that can turn on and off up to 1 million times per second.

LEDs bulbs can then transmit

data and anything with a camera like our smartphones,

tablets or laptops could be the receiver, Zhang says.

The downside of VLC comes from a high rate of leakage of energy with the emitting

of side channel radio wave signals.

The researchers believe that if they can harvest the wasted radio frequency energy,

they can put it to good use by powering small electronic devices.

After experimenting with wires, coils and backgrounds,

the scientists realized the human body offers the best medium,

up to 10 times better than any other setting tested for amplifying

a copper coil's ability to collect leaked RF energy.

They then built the bracelet,

an inexpensive gadget that is meant to be worn on the forearm,

but can adapt into a ring,

belt or necklace to harvest lost energy.

The coiled copper bracelet can reach up to micro watts,

enough to support on body health monitoring sensors,

which require little power to work, the team says.

Okay, there's a little more, but that's, yeah, 6G wear antennas, I guess.