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Frequency Sharpenersignal strength
Tuesday 1 April, 2008, 10:24 - Radio Randomness
Posted by Administrator
frequency sharpenerYou've no doubt heard of pencil sharpeners and knife sharpeners, both designed to ensure the maximum of performance from the devices on which they operate. Well, on April 1 this year, researchers at the University of Al Tayr, in Tripoli, Libya released details of the results of a 5 year study that they have been conducting in which they believe they have discovered the world's first 'frequency sharpener'. Details are somewhat scant but if the device can deliver the kind of results that have been quoted in the research, the frequency sharpener could be being included in many new digital radios of the future as soon April of next year.

In the University's press release, Prof. Ali Lo says of the frequency sharpener:
With weak signals, it is like a thousand camels standing through your receiver to blunt the sound. The frequency sharpener acts between these blunt and dull edges using a special digital encoded Saif Al Nisan algorithm that swipes away and cuts off the noise to leave only clear oasis of surrounding signal.

The release is rather thin on technical details of how the sharpener functions but goes on to claim:
Tests in laboratory of testing have shown, masha'allah, that 12 times improvement in frequency sharpness can be made to receive signal with almost no hump blockage in background or foreground. Works of programme suggest that remaining disturbance no worse than size of golden sand rabbits of similar proportion. By development, frequency sharpener will deliver 20 to 25 times decrease in annoyance of radio camel noise for new design of radio receiver in Arabian region. Better results with Saif Al Nisan algorithm than traditional threshold extension or synchronous detection methods employed before this discovery.

desert radioWe've sent an e-mail to the professor to see whether he could provide more information on how the frequency sharpener works, however from reading between the lines of the press release, we have been able to piece together how we think the device works:
  • The sharpener first stores ambient noise received when the wanted signal is gone, or from areas around the wanted signal.
  • When required, this noise can be metabolised to act as a source of 'anti-noise' (similar to noise cancelling headphones) which cancels out the incoming 'live' received noise.
  • This yields both a reduction in noise and, as a bi-product, generates spare energy that can be used to boost the wanted signal.
  • The process of noise metabolisation generates a net reduction in both the stored and received noise, as well as amplifying the wanted signal.
  • The system though, if it works as we suspect, requires the noise store to be 'topped up' from time-to-time. Once the noise store is empty (for example, if there is no longer noise on the received signal), the device returns to the normal state with no noise reduction taking place.
This fascinating development is something we, at Wireless Waffle are keen to keep an eye on and will bring you updates as we get them.
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