Next up: 6G

© Mark Ollig

My recent purchase of a new smartphone equipped with 5G left me feeling pretty good about owning the latest technology.

However, recalling the quote, “Technology has the life of a banana,” gave me pause to consider the question, “What’s next?”

The quote was made 14 years ago by Scott McNealy, co-founder of the former technology company Sun Microsystems.

For now, 5G (5th Generation) technology is the cellular driving lane we are traveling on; but be aware: the 6G turn-off exit is approaching up ahead. We will be making our turn onto it within the next 10 years.

Last week, LG Electronics successfully demonstrated the transmission and reception of wireless data using 6G technology over a distance of 328 feet in an outdoor setting in Seoul, South Korea.

I will grant you, 328 feet isn’t very far, but it shows engineers are on the right road for building the 6G technology we will be using in the not-too-distant future.

One advantage of using 6G technology will be data speeds 50 times greater than the current 5G some of us are now using.

Current 5G technology delivers data speeds averaging 75 Mbps.

Future 6G technology will reduce latency (delay of data received) by 10 percent. It will also improve the accuracy of the data being transmitted and received.

In addition, our voice conversations will sound more “natural,” as if we were having a face-to-face discussion with the person we are talking with on our cellphone.

Additionally, future 6G-compatible cellphones will allow for multiple video streaming services over superior quality high-definition.

One of the challenges engineers will need to overcome constructing a 6G signaling system is the vast amount of power required as data is transmitted; currently, its transmission distance is short-ranged.

Martin Cooper, 92 years old, is considered “The father of the portable cellular phone.” He holds 11 US patents in the field of wireless communications.

In the early 1970s, Cooper and other engineers at Motorola constructed a working prototype for the first portable cellphone.

On April 3, 1973, in Manhattan, NY, Martin Cooper publicly demonstrated a new wireless device that would go on to revolutionize communications; he placed the first wireless call using a portable cellular telephone.

Cooper called his counterpart at AT&T’s Bell Labs division, Joel Engel, and said, “Joel, I’m calling you from a real cellular telephone. A portable handheld telephone!”

Engel had been unsuccessful in producing a working portable cellphone for AT&T.

I can only imagine Engel’s reply to what I assume was a grinning-from-ear-to-ear Cooper.

In the early 1980s, Robert Galvin, the CEO of Motorola, was visiting with then Vice President George H.W. Bush. When Galvin showed him Motorola’s new portable cellular telephone, Bush said, “Well, I have to show this to Ron [President Ronald Reagan].”

The Motorola portable cellphone measured about 11 inches high, 1.5 inches wide, and 4 inches deep. It weighed approximately 2.5 pounds.

Upon seeing the portable cellphone, Reagan asked, “What’s keeping us from having this?”

Some of you may wonder about the other “G’s” preceding our current 5G wireless technology.

In 1983, Ameritech in Chicago started the first 1G (1st generation) public cellular network in the US. Motorola’s DynaTAC was the first mobile telephone using this network.

Motorola’s 8000X DynaTAC “brick” cellular phone sold for $4,000 in 1983, which today, is equal to $10,964.

Radiolinja in Finland began the first authentic 2G digital cellular network in 1991.

NTT DoCoMo in Japan launched the first 3G system in 1998.

In 2009, TeliaSonera activated the world’s first 4G cellular systems in Stockholm, Sweden, and Oslo, Norway.

It was only two years ago when major wireless carriers started installing 5G cellular technology, so it is still early in our exposure to it.

Minneapolis, MN and Chicago, IL were the first cities in the world to have 5G-enabled smartphones connected to a 5G network.

Cooper obtained US Patent 3,906,166, titled Radio Telephone System, Sept. 16, 1975. This patent includes drawings and specifications of his portable phones’ interface to the radio towers within individual cellular networks and their connection to the Public Switched Telephone Network.

You can see his US Patent at https://bit.ly/3sDKrRH.

My sources say we will begin seeing media ads for 6G compatible smartphones by the end of 2029.

Stay tuned.

My cellphone home screen
Inserted larger photo of the "5G"
(yes, that's me on the telephone pole!)

Wireless radio tower symbol
(Right-To-Use image fee paid)

The chronicles of computing

© Mark Ollig

When I attended high school during the mid-1970s, there were no computers in the classroom.

At that time, the only keyboard I used was on a Smith Corona typewriter.

In 1981, I purchased a Sinclair ZX81 computer for $150, and embraced the future of personal computing.

By 1982, I had an IBM PC (personal computer) model, equipped initially with 256K of RAM, which I increased to 512K. It also included a 20MB hard drive the size of an eight-slot bread toaster.

This PC uses a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor, a single-sided 160K 5.25-inch floppy drive, and an IBM mechanical “clickety-clack” keyboard.

Trivia: In 1978, IBM patented the “buckling spring” key mechanism used beneath the keycaps on their keyboards.

A monochrome display-screen CRT (cathode-ray tube) was my window into the computer, and an IBM dot-matrix printer attached to the computer’s DB-25 connector using a parallel cable.

Written on 5.25-inch floppy disks were the DOS (disk operating system) programs loaded into the computer via the floppy drive.

Many of us remember backing up our computer’s data using stacks of floppy disks.

Yup. Those were the days.

I purchased many books and tapes on computer hardware and software and used the Microsoft-based DOS called MS-DOS.

The Microsoft Windows operating system became available in 1985; other folks were already using the Apple computer with its proprietary operating platform, hardware, and software programs.

Computer hobbyist clubs and a network of online virtual communities made up of hundreds of telephone dial-up computer BBS’s (bulletin board systems) in cities all across the country increased as the 1980s progressed. We navigated over the internet using text commands; the World Wide Web would not be around until 1993.

In 1983, I learned of a personal computer hardware and software television program shown over the local public broadcasting service channel Friday evenings.

“The Computer Chronicles” featured the latest computer technology and software. Stewart Cheifet hosted it.

Cheifet, a correspondent for the PBS “Nightly Business Report,” covered the high-tech industry in California’s famous Silicon Valley.

I was happy to discover a computing-rich resource in “The Computer Chronicles,” which I watched every week.

“The Computer Chronicles” program centered on the personal computer industry and covered DOS-based PCs, Apple computers, printers, modems, processors, and various software programs and data storage peripherals.

This weekly program featured the latest computer technology, software, and people with expertise inside the industry.

Cheifet greeted his viewers with an enthusiastic, “Welcome to the Computer Chronicles.”

One could tell Cheifet enjoyed delving into the latest computing technology.

He talked about personal computing in an easy-to-understand approach, and often interviewed company specialists and demonstrated new computer hardware and software.

“The Computer Chronicles” mostly covered the IBM and Apple computing world and other computers made by lesser-known makers.

One of the show’s segments, “Random Access,” highlighted the past week’s computing news.

The show was right for the times. Each week, I looked forward to learning something new about computing and software. I shared in Chiefet’s wonderment about the technology.

As this fast-evolving personal computer technology exploded upon us, many took comfort in knowing Cheifet would calmly show and explain it to us each week.

The start of “The Computer Chronicles” television program from July 14, 1988, began with Cheifet looking at a desk where a Commodore Amiga personal computer sat.

“Welcome to the Computer Chronicles,” spoke the artificial voice from the computer.

“A computer that talks!” excitedly exclaimed Cheifet, with a smile on his face.

All good things must end, and so it was with “The Computer Chronicles.” Despite a very loyal fan base, the program ended in 2002.

Today, many of those past programs exist on the internet and are available for viewing.

Stewart Cheifet was born Sept. 24, 1938, in Philadelphia, PA. His website is http://www.cheifet.com.

The internet archive contains original episodes of “The Computer Chronicles” you can watch here: https://bit.ly/3snD7JH.

Time keeps flowing like a river

© Mark Ollig

It’s not unusual for folks to wake up extra early on some mornings.

This past Monday, I awoke to see 3:30 a.m. posted on the clock.

Out of habit, I checked my favored online social media and noted a video uploaded by astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, who hosts a popular program called “Star Talk.”

In this "Star Talk" episode, he sits down and chats with William Shatner – yes, the original Captain James T. Kirk of "Star Trek" folklore.

The program opens with a solemn look on Shatner’s face while asking Tyson, “What is space-time?”

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson considers the question and slowly answers with, “You already know. You have never met someone at a place, unless it was also at a time. You have never met someone at a time unless it was …”

“Well, wait a minute!” Quickly interrupts Shatner.

“What happens to a photon from 13.8 billion years ago that comes this way and enters my eye so I can see it. Where is space involved in that?” Shatner anxiously exclaims.

“It entered your eye at a time and at a place; right here, that’s all that matters,” Tyson smartly responds.

Each of them exchanges their thoughts on universal theory, how space-time exists and is conjoined.

Shatner drifts off into discussing the analogy of people walking and meeting trains on time in the same space-time.

“What is all that about then?” Shatner quickly asks.

“That’s all the consequences of thinking about space and time as conjoined,” calmly answers Tyson.

Shatner stops to think about what Tyson said and then loudly exclaims, “But it’s confusing!”

Tyson laughs and humorously replied, “So? The universe is under no obligation to make sense to William Shatner!”

Shatner also laughs and counters with, “No, but William Shatner is under the obligation to make sense to the universe as you are doing! And why do I slow down as I approach the speed of light? It doesn’t apply to a photon?”

Even at age 90, William Shatner appears at times to maintain control of his mental faculties.

“You want to freak out?” Tyson challenges Shatner, whose attention has become absorbed into this space-time conversation.

“I’m ready, I’m ready,” Shatner excitedly replied.

“The faster you go, the slower time ticks for you as seen by others. As you approach the speed of light, time continues to slow down. At the speed of light, time stops. Which means; for a photon moving at the speed of light, when it is absorbed in your retina, it is the same instant it was emitted at the Big Bang, 14 billion years ago,” Tyson carefully explained to the very attentive William Shatner.

“That’s what I thought!” Exclaims Shatner. “Can we measure that photon, and observe the Big Bang?” He asked.

“Yes. I know that it came from the Big Bang, and I’m watching it and it’s taken 13.8 billion years to reach you, but if you are that photon, it does not experience that time delay,” Tyson explained.

Shatner paused and mused, “What a great science fiction story that is.”

“Instantaneous,” Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson knowingly added.

“When I look up at the night sky and I know that yes, we are part of this universe; we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts, is that the universe is in us,” Tyson said.

I looked at the clock and could not believe it was already 4:30 a.m. I thought about how fast the time went – it didn’t slow down for me at all.

It is still dark outside my bedroom window, and I can see stars in the early morning sky.

There is no traffic along the usually busy street; it is serene and quiet.

Instead of space being the final frontier, it may be that time is; or space-time. I guess it all depends on your perspective.

My being awake in the early morning hours hearing this space-time conversation began to nostalgically remind me of listening to Art Bell’s “Coast to Coast AM” radio broadcasts during the 1990s.

I recalled something my mom once told me about the passage of time and how it goes by faster as we get older.

She is right.

After pondering what Tyson and Shatner discussed, I thought of the Alan Parsons Project song “Time” from 1981.

“Time keeps flowing like a river ... To the sea. Till it’s gone forever, gone forevermore.”

As Dr. Seuss said, “How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”

The Hubble xTreme Deep Field was released in 2012, peering back in time approximately
 13.2 billion years. It contains about 5,500 of the most distant galaxies ever imaged by an
optical telescope.
 (Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, Hubble)

"Space-Time"
(Image credit Shutterstock)

Houston, we have an email

© Mark Ollig

Aug. 9, 1991, orbiting 200 miles above Earth, Space Shuttle Atlantis Astronauts James Adamson and Shannon Lucid, using an Apple Macintosh laptop computer, texted an email message to astronaut Marsha Ivins at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.

NASA sent and received the email messages over the AppleLink commercial email online service.

“Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here, ... send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista, baby, ... we’ll be back!,” announced the first text email from space sent 30 years ago this month.

Cryo means cryogenics, which includes items needed for life support. RCS means Reaction Control System, which uses fuel for maneuvering control.

The back story on the historic 1991 email transmission was to test its reliability for quickly communicating text messages from Earth-orbiting astronauts to NASA’s Mission Control Center. This test was the groundwork for an email system planned for use on the future space station, named Freedom.

Participants on board the space station Freedom would include Americans, Canadians, Japanese, and Europeans. However, due to budget cutbacks, it was not constructed.

The 1991 first email from space had many of us excited on the ground, wondering how long it would be until we could type emails from our computer and send them to astronauts orbiting Earth in the Space Shuttle.

I learned some folks did not have to wait very long.

According to Debra Muratore, the NASA project manager for the 1991 space-to-Earth email test, someone inside NASA leaked the classified email address for the Space Shuttle Atlantis onto a public computer bulletin board system (BBS) a week ahead of time.

Members of the BBS community learned of the classified email address.

Thus, anyone with a computer and a modem could send messages to the astronauts aboard the space shuttle.

“I know who leaked it, and he’s sitting right here in my office,” Muratore said in an August 1991 New York newspaper article.

“I’m going to protect his identity even though I’m going to break his kneecaps when I get off this [phone] call,” Muratore added.

Yikes!

I can only assume she was joking about breaking the guy’s kneecaps.

But, I digress.

The second email attempt from the shuttle astronauts to Mission Control failed because the data switching system had not correctly reset itself.

Atlantis astronauts reported to controllers in Houston they had encountered an error message saying, “The modem pool is not responding.”

Unanticipated increased signaling caused the error, which automatically puts the data switching system into sleep mode.

The unexpected sleep mode occurred after Mission Control had authenticated an email message setup connection the first time.

However, the third and future emails were successful, as Mission Control established the nominal communication protocols required for uninterrupted email messaging.

In addition to Mission Control’s email, astronauts aboard Atlantis received approximately 80 other email messages originating from BBS computer users in Australia, Nigeria, Singapore, and the United States.

So, what did some of these email messages say? “Bon Voyage!” “Happy Landing,” and “Have Fun!” were a few of them.

Yup. Once your email address is out there, you can’t keep away from those unsolicited emailers, even when you are located 200 miles above the planet.

In 1991, NASA hoped electronic email could replace the text and graphics system method currently used by NASA to communicate with the astronauts.

NASA also hoped a future space station would use email messaging to send and receive text messages from Mission Control.

In 1998, construction of the International Space Station (ISS) 250 miles above Earth began.

Nov. 2, 2000, the first American astronaut to reside in the ISS was Bill Shepherd; I imagine he had a nasa.gov email address.

By 2010, internet access was made available to the ISS for the American astronauts and others onboard.

The ISS Twitter user name is @Space_Station.

All the American astronauts onboard the ISS have Twitter handles, including current occupant Megan McArthur at @Astro_Megan.

The Apple Macintosh laptop onboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1991 was not NASA’s only consideration; NASA also tested a personal laptop using DOS (Disk Operating System).

The decision to use Apple’s computer was partly because of its operating system’s extensive selection of software that would work well with various space experiments.

The Atlantis astronauts could monitor and calculate their orbital trajectory status and position relative to the ground using the Macintosh laptop’s SPOC (Spacecraft Personal Orbit Computations) application software program.

Aug. 11, 1991, after completing 142 orbits of the Earth, Space Shuttle Atlantis returned home, landing on Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Apple Macintosh Portable computer (like this) typed first email from space.