Readers Select 2025 Products of the Year

Last December, Tech Briefs readers were asked to select one product from our 2025 Products of the Month to be named Readers’ Choice Product of the Year. Thanks to all of our readers who cast their votes. Read on for the three 2025 winners.

New Wireless Transceiver Offers Fiber Optic Speed Without Physical Cables

A new transceiver invented by electrical engineers at the University of California, Irvine boosts radio frequencies into 140-gigahertz territory, unlocking data...

Innovative Control System Theory for Complex Networks

Leila Bridgeman and her team at Duke University Pratt School of Engineering are developing software that will improve upon existing techniques to ensure robust and safety-assured control for complex autonomous systems such as drones and medical robotics.

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including Boker’s stamped metal components custom manufactured to fit into developed mold designs; the CRH03 tactical-grade gyroscope from Silicon Sensing Systems; Keysight Technologies' enhanced physical layer compliance test solution for high-definition multimedia interface; and more.

New Transmitter Could Make Wireless Devices More Energy-Efficient

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have designed a novel transmitter chip that significantly improves the energy efficiency of wireless communications, which could boost the...

How Much Do You Know About Wireless Industrial Systems?

Automated factories are networks of separate but interconnected systems. The interconnections have been mostly hard-wired in the past but now we’re seeing more wireless systems. How much do you know about wireless industrial systems? Take this quiz and see.

Using Flying Insects to Drop Sensors

Researchers have created a 98-milligram sensor system — about one tenth the weight of a jellybean or less than one-hundredth of an ounce — that can ride aboard a small drone or an insect, such as a moth, until it gets to its destination. Then, when a researcher sends a Bluetooth command, the sensor is released from its perch and can fall up to 72 feet — from about the sixth floor of a building — and land without breaking. Once on the ground, the sensor can collect data, such as temperature or humidity, for almost three years.

NIST Tackles Wireless Industrial Systems

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is working to provide best practice guidelines to help manufacturers use wireless systems. Read on to learn more about it.

Smart Sensing, Foundation of the IoT/IIoT, is Maturing at a Rapid Pace

Thanks to Internet of Things technologies, there are many ways to make previously unconnected things talk. Processes, conditions, equipment, or machines have much to say about themselves and help keep the industry applications they’re integrally involved in running smoothly.

The Growing Impact of Cybersecurity on Patient Safety in Medical Devices

The growing impact of medical device cybersecurity on patient safety.

Interoperability in IoMT: Overcoming the Connectivity Barriers

Overcoming IoMT connectivity barriers with ultra-low-power wireless technologies.

Brain-Inspired Wireless System Gathers Data from Salt-Sized Sensors

The Brown University research team created a novel approach for a wireless communication network that can efficiently transmit, receive, and decode data from thousands of microelectronic chips that are each no larger than a grain of salt. Read on to learn more about it.

Understanding the Vulnerability in Wireless Backhaul Networks for 5G

A research team led by Rice University’s Edward Knightly has uncovered an eavesdropping security vulnerability in high-frequency and high-speed wireless backhaul links, widely employed in critical applications such as 5G wireless cell phone signals and low-latency financial trading on Wall Street. Read on to learn more.

New Wearable Communication System Can Transmit Data Farther than Wi-Fi

A group of University of Arizona researchers has developed a wearable monitoring device system that can send health data up to 15 miles without any significant infrastructure. Their device, they hope, will help make digital health access more equitable. Read on to learn more.

A Digital Twin Can Predict What Data Wireless Users Will Need Before They Need It

Researchers have developed a new method for predicting what data wireless computing users will need before they need it, making wireless networks faster and more reliable. The new method makes use of a technique called a “digital twin,” which effectively clones the network it is supporting. Read on to learn more.

Future Washable Smart Clothes Powered by Wi-Fi will Monitor Health

Purdue University engineers have developed a method to transform existing cloth items into battery-free wearables resistant to laundering. These smart clothes are powered wirelessly through a flexible, silk-based coil sewn on the textile. Read on to learn more.

Battery-Free Smart Sensing

Professor Dinesh Bharadia of the Jacobs School of Engineering University of California San Diego runs their Wireless Communication Sensing and Networking Group. One major focus of the lab is to investigate harvesting energy to enable sensors to communicate in a battery-free manner. The following article is an interview with Professor Bharadia.

Product Showcase

See the product showcase, which includes Airmar’s high-performance multi-use ultrasonic air transducers; TE Connectivity's two new wireless pressure sensors; embeddedTS' TS-7100-Z, its smallest single board computer in an optional DIN-mountable enclosure; the optoNCDT 1900; and more.

Test Your Knowledge About AI Adoption in Engineering

With advancements like large language models, we are seeing increased integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into engineering processes. Design engineers of advanced machines and systems such as robots, medical devices, automotive components, and manufacturing lines, are already using AI to streamline design and production processes. How much do you know about AI adoption in engineering? Test your knowledge with this quiz.

3D Processors May Revolutionize Wireless Communication

Scientists have pioneered a method for using semiconductor technology to manufacture processors that significantly enhance the efficiency of transmitting vast amounts of data across the globe. The innovation is poised to transform the landscape of wireless communication. Read on to learn more.

Improving Traffic Signal Timing with a Handful of Connected Vehicles

Communities could reduce costs and cut vehicle emissions — all in the name of shortening your trip.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including the Third Thumb, an extra robotic thumb aimed at increasing the wearer’s range of movement; a way to display full-color, 3D moving images over a direct view of the real world; and an adjustable filter that can successfully prevent interference, even in higher-frequency bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.

How Much Do You Know About Integrated Building Systems?

Office buildings use a significant portion of the world’s energy resources. Integrated building systems such as HVAC and lighting can significantly reduce that load. How much do you know about integrated building systems? Test your knowledge with this quiz.