3. A better 5G switch
Last May, University of Texas at Austin faculty partnered with researchers at the University of Lille in France to build a radio-frequency switch — the thing in smartphones that enables them to switch between different types of wireless networks — that’s 50 times more efficient than what’s in current phone models. That could lead to longer battery lives, higher performance and more reliable applications, like streaming high-definition video. The enhanced switches can also be used to improve almost any internet-connected device or satellite system, researchers said. The University of Texas at Austin has been home to a multidisciplinary research group, the Wireless Networking and Communications Group, since 2002, and the university is continuing to make breakthroughs in 5G.
