The signal your cell phone receives typically comes from a large microwave transceiver a few miles away. Now it can be supplied, over a short range at least, by a device the size of a USB memory stick. Two U.K. firms, PicoChip and Ubiquisys, have developed such pocket-sized, USB-powered devices, which connect to nearby cell phones using the same frequencies of a conventional tower. The gadgets use the Internet connection of a computer or other device to link back to the wider cell network and relay calls or data. PicoChip's is the size of a USB stick, while Ubiquisys' design is the size of a small cell phone. The devices are a shrunken form of ‘femtocell’, a scaled-down cell tower that some mobile carriers have pushed in the last two years as a solution for people with poor reception at home. Increasingly they are seen as a way to increase data rates, too. Until now though, femtocells have been significantly larger, usually similar in size to a fixed-line broadband modem; they also require their own power connection. PicoChip was able to make smaller femtocells by redesigning the main chip and reducing its power consumption to the 4.5 volts supplied by a USB connection, says Gothard. PicoChip's most recent generation of chips in production measures two centimeters on a side and are manufactured using a process that creates features no smaller than 65 nanometers. The new generation is just 12 millimeters square and is made with features as small as 40 nanometers. For more information visit: http://www.ubiquisys.com/femtocell-media-press-releases-id-203.htm
I'd like to see the radiation tests first.
E