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-Lack of infrastructure, skills causes Africa to lag in ICT readiness
-Angola’s Movicel launches fourth-generation network
-UBA grants Benin US$50-million for telecoms, power projects
-Kenya Telkom’s LION2 submarine cable goes live
-Liberia prepares for faster, more affordable internet
-Government cronies lobby for NITEL assets
-Local government in Rwanda set to step up ICT use
-China’s Huawei seeking to build landline system in South Sudan
-Tanzania signs US$6,7-million internet capacity deal with Rwanda
-Uganda’s “not closing down” UTL … (more)
In February 2012, at the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) a new world-wide frequency band for amateur radio was born: 472 – 479 kHz, destined to be known as the 630 kHz band… (more)
- Not a phone, not a tablet but a hybrid of both
- A complete system dedicated to in-car calls and music
- You can be hands-free in the office too
- Ergosensor monitors posture… (more)
Many factors are driving designers to improve power supply efficiency – from going green to simple rand and cent. Simply put, power supply efficiency is measured by comparing the AC power going into the power supply to the DC power coming out of the supply. For example, imagine a power supply that uses 100 W of AC power to provide 90 W of DC output power. The supply’s efficiency would be calculated by dividing 90 W by 100 W, which equals 90% efficiency. When comparing a 75% to a 90% efficient power supply, the savings in electricity usage and wasted energy in the form of heat is quite significant… (more)
Microwave printed-circuit board (PCB) prototypes can be quickly and cost-effectively produced in-house by means of any number of commercial mechanical milling machines or chemical etching. A faster and more accurate approach, however, is to perform the etching and machining by laser. One of the new developments which combines laser and electronics to mill and drill both laminated ceramic materials and soft substrate materials such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) circuit-boards is the LPKF ProtoLaser U3. It is the only laser system worldwide that can structure, drill and cut laminated substrates. The system generates circuits directly from computer-aided-design (CAD) file formats, including Gerber, HPGL, and DXF files… (more)
Keller‘s OEM transmitters are systems that can be described as “embedded” in the best sense of the word – and in two different ways. First, the sensor and the downstream electronics are embedded in the same housing and second, the transmitter capsules themselves are ideally suited for embedding in application-specific systems. Depending on requirements, the output signal is standardised and temperature-compensated (ratiometric or digital). Thanks to the chip-in-oil (CiO) technology developed at Keller, the trend toward sensor miniaturisation is now a reality. This development can offer impressive advantages: an extremely compact structural design, high resistance to electrical noise fields and high vibration resistance thanks to low mass and short conduction paths… (more)
There are a number of test equipment choices in the data acquisition market, ranging from PC plug-in cards to standalone data acquisition units. To select the optimal equipment for your application, it is important for you to evaluate your measurement performance needs, including resolution, accuracy, functionality and throughput speeds. With so many choices available today, you will want to choose a flexible solution that can grow in tandem with your application, so you can protect your investment in the future… (more)
The concept of mining in space in not new, but the topic has been getting more attention in recent years. Many authors agree that mining space resources and the settlement of space would require extensive use of robotics. This paper explores the notion that future South African mining robotics could make the country a key player in the space mining industry. South Africa has fairly unique ultra-deep narrow tabular gold deposits, which lends itself to mechanisation/automation for a number of reasons. The challenges to overcome before successfully implementing robotics in these deposits are similar to some of the robotics challenges in mining space resources… (more)
Security is becoming increasingly important for the modern SCADA and industrial control system (ICS). Without security, the reliability and safety of the entire industrial process can be at risk. Unfortunately, good security doesn’t just happen. It needs to be designed into the system, using proven security strategies and processes. One of the foundation strategies is defence in depth – the idea that effective security is created by layering multiple security solutions, so that if one is bypassed, another will provide the defence… (more)
This article examines the quality problems that are typical on voice over IP (VoIP) calls, the methods of detecting and countering them, and a solution to resolve VoIP quality issues. Quality is a fundamental preoccupation of VoIP architects. The primary challenge is ensuring voice traffic is not delayed or otherwise compromised due to interference from non-voice traffic on the network… (more)
Successful product-oriented companies choose a vector of differentiation to deliver to their customers: the best in class, fastest time to market and lowest cost. In the global arena, companies are encountering nimble competitors able to compete on multiple fronts simultaneously. To get ahead of these disruptive forces, engineers must shed ideological thinking and focus on pragmatic outcomes, using whatever tools necessary to ensure the fastest, most accurate results… (more)
Due to potential interference, the TV band usually has unused spectrum inbetween any two stations which seems a waste of valuable spectrum that could be utilised to provide broadband connectivity, particularly in rural areas. In July 2011 the IEEE accepted the IEEE 802.22 standard which is aimed at using cognitive radio (CR) techniques to allow sharing of geographically unused spectrum allocated to the television broadcasting services on a non-interference basis… (more)
While in some quarters fibre is being touted as the be all and end all, if there are any myths and misconceptions about satellites, then top of the list would be “satellites are a dying breed” and “satellites are expensive.” I agree that sub-marine and terrestrial fibre has brought broadband to the masses in the metropolitan areas but those on the “platteland” are sadly passed by. For them there must be other solutions – satellites being one. If satellites are a dying breed, where would pharmacies and chain stores in rural areas be? Many rural pharmacies rely on VSat networks to check medical aid benefits when dispensing medicine, chain stores need access to customer accounts and ATM facilities and banks in rural areas rely on VSats… (more)
South Africa’s new Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act protects 12,5-million hectares in the Northern Cape as a radio astronomy reserve to ensure the future of radio astronomy in the region. The question is – how will it affect people living in the area? Will they still have acces to TV, radio, cellphones and to the internet? According to Adrian Tiplady, Square Kilometre Arra (SKA) site characterisation manager, great efforts are being made to ensure that people in the area will have access to telecommunications and broadcasting, with full co-operation from the various role-players… (more)
The objective of secure software development is to design, implement, configure, and sustain software systems –with security being an integral part of the complete systems development life cycle and beyond, from the requirement definition to retirement of application.The security of software is threatened at various points throughout its life cycle, both by intentional choices and actions taken by “insiders” who are producing, deploying, operating, or maintaining the software, and by “outsiders” who have no affiliation with the organisation. During development software may be corrupted in ways that will compromise the software’s dependability and trustworthiness when it is operational… (more)
Conventionally, expanding the capacity of mobile networks has been achieved mainly by adding more base stations to the existing infrastructure. However, it is a relatively slow and costly way to roll out capacity and this has impeded the expansion of mobile broadband, which in today’s highly competitive market is challenging. Although smaller cells have been enabled to provide a more cost-effective and faster way to add capacity in selected hot spot areas and to fill coverage gaps, especially indoors, small cell deployment will not replace, but rather, will complement the macro layer as a key provider of capacity and coverage… (more)
New legislation which comes into force next year relating to amendments to the Articles of Association for companies has far-reaching implications for the conduct of business in the boardroom, and moreover, the role of the company secretary. According to a survey conducted on behalf of Trifecta Captital Services, the new legislation still has many challenges to overcome in terms of its understanding, clarity, practicalities and cohesiveness, if companies are to be ready to implement the new changes next year… (more)
In today’s economy businesses are constantly looking to IT and technology to drive down costs and improve productivity through greater efficiencies. One key area where they are achieving this is through cloud computing and the services-oriented approach to the provisioning of software and services that it enables. By hosting software and services in the cloud, businesses are also able to benefit from intelligent automation, which consists of software-driven routines that automatically perform IT service management functions and make decisions based on specific business policies and procedures… (more)
In the automotive industry robots have been used for many years but in some other sectors their use has been slow to take off. We asked a number of people from the automation industry to participate in a virtual panel discussion on robotics. Hopefully we take the lid off some of the mysteries that many believe surround these useful combinations of electronics, metal and software. Our point of departure was to explore the deployment of robotics in modern day plants… (more)
When I recently did research on ruggedised and embedded computing systems for the industrial processing environment I had the opportunity to speak with Mike Le Plastrier, divisional director of Invensys Operations Management, an EOH company. We started talking about ruggedisation of equipment in the process environment but soon the conversation moved to IT. Le Plastrier had some definite views on ruggedised equipment which we came back to later in our conversation… (more)
On 31 March 2011, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) published the new Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations in the Government Gazette. The ink had hardly dried on the document when ICASA received a flurry of complaints about mistakes and inaccuracies… (more)
Franck Cohen, president of SAP Europe, Middle East and Africa, recently visited South Africa as part of the company’s 40th anniversary. While most companies were still in the recovery stage when new dark clouds started gathering – mainly driven by the debt crisis in several euro zone countries – SAP celebrated its 40th anniversary with a 25% growth during 2011. In its annual results the euro zone’s financial woes are clearly reflected by a flat European market… (more)
Computer Society South Africa (CSSA) has embarked on a survey aimed at both individuals and corporates who are active in the ICT space in this country. You don’t have to be a member to participate. If you work in the ICT industry, if you are an employer of ICT skills or if you are studying to become an ICT practitioner, CSSA wants to know how you feel about the Society, about professionalism and about career development. Help CSSA to serve South Africa better and come out a winner!… (more)
The launch edition of the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering’s (JCSE) Source Code magazine has been released. This JCSE initiative aims to provide a comprehensive resource guide for the software development community in South Africa and contains lists of independent software vendors as well as information on all of the ICT-related programs at South African universities… (more)
Is intelligent building automation (IBA) just about being green, or is it a business imperative, given the climate of ever-increasing energy costs, and worse, a dwindling supply? It is a point of debate that is surely appearing on many boardroom meeting agendas. Some still argue that it is about being green, others will say it is about reducing cost, and yet another group believes that it is about saving the environment… (more)
The author looks at how a new generation of business software is helping to boost manufacturers’ speed and performance, and engage the workforces of tomorrow. Manufacturers have taken innovative measures to strip out costs, boost productivity and ensure they are in the best possible shape to ride the waves generated by the recession. Testament to their resilience is the fact that they continue to help drive economic recovery and demonstrate growth against turbulent economic conditions… (more)
With fuel prices at an all-time high and airfares skyrocketing, telepresence, video conferencing and teleconferencing should be taking off. Every vendor tells prospective clients how much their companies can save on travel costs and time and increase productivity, but as yet the market has not seen large scale adoption… (more)
A few years ago there were only a handful of data centres in South Africa, now they seem to be everywhere. The growth is obviously driven by demand, migration to the cloud and more companies outsourcing their IT services. In many respects data centres offer better business continuity as many of them have a large amount of redundancy and redundant connectivity built-in, which is often not affordable by small and medium sized companies. Security is another major consideration… (more)
The first phase of South Africa’s first Green data park is now in operation in Centurion, Gauteng. Fully developed, the park will support 6000 m² of data space. When the project commenced in June 2011, the predicted game-changing Bladeroom efficiency was greeted with general disbelief. In handover tests on site, the Bladeroom exceeded predictions – achieving an actual PUE of less than 1,2 across the full range of loads from 18% to full load… (more)
System planning is the Achilles’ heel of a data centre physical infrastructure project. Planning mistakes can magnify and propagate through later deployment phases, resulting in delays, cost overruns, wasted time, and ultimately a compromised system. Much of the trouble can be eliminated by viewing system planning as a data flow model, with an orderly sequence of tasks that progressively transform and refine information from initial concept to final design… (more)
Many South African-engineered and -manufactured products find their way overseas, yet we seldom read about it in our local media. One example is a tunnel FM radio system designed and manufactured by Broadcast Solutions Electronics in Cape Town. The company was created by the management buyout from Plessey in 2000… (more)
Midsize companies need innovative, secure and cost-effective ways to cut costs without disrupting current business operations. The right cloud solution offers midsize companies an advantage. All the while aiming to improve efficiency and employee productivity, enter new markets and find new opportunities, manage risk, improve business agility and retain customers… (more)
Data, and more specifically information, has become the lifeblood of any organisation. It underpins every function in the business: financial reporting, performance reviews and forecasting, manufacturing and operations, and even customer interactions. An organisation unable to provide the right information to the right people at the right time is essentially crippled. As the importance and sensitivity of information increases, so does the need to protect it… (more)
When most people think of facilities management they think of monitoring building systems and environmental variables. Both are typically associated with institutional or commercial facilities such as banks, office complexes, fast food restaurants, hospitals or educational institutions such as school systems or college campuses. Less obvious and less visible, but equally important, is the role facilities management plays in the manufacturing sector… (more)
In recent years there has been a proliferation of low speed serial buses entering R&D and coming to market in end user products. Some of these are application-specific such as FlexRay in the automotive industry, whereas others span many markets and industries and have been around for a long time, such as RS232 and UARTs. New protocols are continually entering the market, providing product designers and end users with more features, performance and robustness, but also with new debug challenges to validate the performance and interoperability… (more)
State-of-the-art power semiconductors are intended to switch quickly in order to reduce dynamic losses. Once an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) turns off, the load current commutates to the freewheeling diode. To avoid undesirable side-effects, these two semiconductors have to be very well matched in terms of their electrical properties. Electronic circuits are usually designed so that no IGBT has to be operated in reverse direction. The problem is, however, that situations occur in applications in which this is exactly the case, at least for a transitional period… (more)
Ghana tops, SA lags in broadband download speed; Nigeria seizes bank equipment from Benin; Kenya acts to contain damage from fibre cuts; Namibia’s new licences set to change telecoms landscape; Rwanda gets third telecoms operator; Tunisiana wins tender for 3G and landline licence; Warid to invest another US$25-milion in Uganda; Africonnect launches “fastest” internet service in Zambia; MTN gets extended licences in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire; 231 Tanzanian villages to get telecoms links… (more)
Scientists agree that radio wave propagation requires ongoing research as there are still many unanswered questions particularly when it comes to propagation on frequencies above 30 MHz. Radio amateurs are well known for their passion to explore the vagaries of the ionosphere, partially driven by the fact that they generally only have access to low power transmitters and moderate antennas but also for their passion for experimentation… (more)
South Africans will have to wait until at least mid-May, when a decision may be made as to whether South Africa or Australia will to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Members of the SKA Organisation met in Amsterdam on 4 April 2012 for their first general meeting. They noted the SKA site selection advisory committee’s report and associated commentary that had been passed to them by the SKA Organisation’s Board which met last month in the UK… (more)
Blackberry goes white;
Charge while you watch;
Blackberry playbook OS 2.0 takes your playbook places… (more)
African leaders agree to boost infrastructure spending;
Repairs underway on TEAMS cable cut by anchor;
Angolan project to link all provincial capitals;
US$240-million “needed to bring African bandwidth up to par”;
Kenya signs MoU with ITU to boost cyber security;
Mozambique’s Movitel connects 205 schools to internet;
All Uganda telecoms “below quality standards”;
Nigerian internet use slowed by lack of broadband;
MTN Rwanda under scrutiny over network disruptions… (more)
SA AMSAT (Southern African Amateur Radio Satellite Association) announced a CubeSat building project in 2011. I caught up with Hannes Coetzee ZS6BZP to track the progress so far. Designing and building a satellite measuring only 10 x 10 x 10 cm and weighing just over 1 kg is not an easy task… (more)
A R126-million Centre for High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy has opened at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in Port Elizabeth. This will enable our scientists to analyse materials right down to atomic level. The newly completed centre puts South Africa on a par with international peers in terms of cutting-edge research facilities… (more)
Interconnect and I/O planning between the design teams for IC layout, package substrate design, and printed circuit board (PCB) layout is critical to driving down costs for the package and the PCB. Companies that recognise this fact are struggling to accomplish this task today with a combination of MS Excel, white board sketches, emails, and internal “glue-ware”… (more)
PCB design has comes a long way since the dot and tape era – having moved from PCAD to the latest Altium software. EDA has designed boards for the space industry including for SA’s own satellite, SumbandilaSat. Altium provides design solutions that break down barriers inherent in electronic designs by unifying the separate processes, all within a single design environment, working off a single data model which links all aspects of product design into one process… (more)
When considering the implementation of an industrial wireless network, manufacturers and other end users must have a clear understanding of their wireless solution requirements, understand issues impacting the success of their installation and the return on technology investments. Important factors in the selection of a wireless solution include network performance, data security, reliability and cost… (more)
The significant growth and impact of wireless in every aspect of our lives is clear. Many mines have started using wireless technology to mitigate problems experienced where traditional cabling is expensive, impractical or simply impossible… (more)
Within the first decade of the 21st century, a number of prominent factors that stand out globally will impact and change how manufacturing concerns conduct their business if they want to stay competitive and in business. These factors include global economic meltdown and the debt crisis of a number of nations across the globe, and Increased demand for energy and natural resources… (more)
Most of us are familiar with global positioning system (GPS) technology. These days almost everyone has a smart phone or tablet with GPS capabilities, which is used on a daily basis. Many transport and logistics companies rely on this technology to deliver excellent service to their clients. Even car insurance companies have gone to the extent of offering reduced premiums to their clients based on their driving habits, all monitored by GPS… (more)
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