The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposes to offer a 10-year plan to implement broadband Internet as the reigning communications network in the United States. FCC officials say the commission’s recommendations will include a subsidy for Internet providers to wire rural U.S. regions currently without access, a voluntary auction of some broadcast spectrum to open up space for wireless devices, and the development of a new universal set-top box that links to the Internet and cable service. The FCC says the proceeds from the spectrum auctions alone should pay for the plan. About one-third of U.S. residents either lack broadband Internet access, cannot afford it, or opt not to have it. In a February address, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said that broadband wiring would be of immeasurable help to the U.S.’s construction of cutting-edge computers and applications, otherwise “it would be like having the technology for great electric cars, but terrible roads.” Another part of the plan calls for outfitting 100 million households with high-speed Internet with a maximum speed of 100 Mbps by the end of this decade.
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ACM has named University of California, Berkeley computer science professor Eric Brewer the recipient of the 2009 ACM-Infosys Foundation Award for his contribution to the development of highly scalable Internet services. Brewer broke down jobs, which once required large and expensive servers systems, so they could be handled by many inexpensive, small machines. Brewer also developed a way to replicate computing chores so that if one server went down, another would provide the answer without users noticing an interruption. He also developed Brewer’s wireless hypothesis, which suggests providing communications and computing capabilities to developing nations is more helpful than waiting for more conventional components of their economies to take shape. Instead of using Wi-Fi technology to cover a small area, Brewer developed technology called WiLDNet that can send signals in a single direction over long distances at a very low cost. Applications of WiLDNet include helping to remotely diagnose eye ailments by using wireless videoconferencing. “He demonstrated not only could you help people but you could advance the state of the art,” says Berkeley computer science professor David Patterson. The award, which is sponsored by the Infosys Foundation, includes a $150,000 prize.
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University of Arkansas researchers have developed a new method for preventing the cloning of passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. The method prevents the production of counterfeit tags by focusing on one or more unique physical attributes of individual tags, instead of the information stored on the tags. “It is easy to clone an RFID tag by copying the contents of its memory and applying them to a new, counterfeit tag, which can then be attached to a counterfeit product–or person, in the case of these new e-passports,” says Arkansas professor Dale R. Thompson. “What we’ve developed is an electronic fingerprinting system to prevent this from happening.” The researchers determined that all RFID tags have a unique fingerprint due to variances in radio frequency and manufacturing. By using an algorithm that repeatedly sent reader-to-tag signals, the researchers found that radio frequencies in RFID tags ranged from 903 MHz to 927 MHz, and increased in increments of 2.4 megahertz. The measurements showed that each tag had a unique minimum power response at multiple radio frequencies, and that power responses were significantly different even in same-model tags. Thompson says the different minimal responses are just one of several unique physical characteristics that enabled them to create an electronic fingerprint to identify tags with a high probability of detecting counterfeit tags.

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