Research Subject Area: Communications Technologies

REF impact found 105 Case Studies

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UOA09-11: Absolute distance measurement

Summary of the impact

The performance of absolute distance measuring systems has been improved in terms of accuracy, traceability, reliability and cost through the introduction of new methodology arising from research at the University of Oxford. This has brought commercial benefit to a German company making measurement systems, through the creation of a new product line. New capabilities for measurement have been delivered to a first customer in Germany. The research has also resulted in the establishment of new activity at the National Physical Laboratory, and influenced UK and European technology roadmaps for future manufacturing.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Other Physical Sciences
Technology: Communications Technologies

Advanced Radiometer Instrumentation for Earth Observation

Summary of the impact

Research on Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) structures has led to major advances in the design and manufacture of the world's most advanced payload instrumentation for use in Earth observation satellites. This technology has provided the core element of the radiometer instrumentation needed for more accurate global weather forecasts and better understanding of climate change. The advances described have made it possible to combine all of the different functions of the MetOP-SG radiometer into one instrument, thereby halving the footprint of the satellite payload resulting in a [text removed for publication] cost saving.

Submitting Institution

Queen's University Belfast

Unit of Assessment

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Astronomical and Space Sciences, Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics
Technology: Communications Technologies

Advancing Clean Energy Research and Biosecurity through Novel Bragg Grating Technologies

Summary of the impact

Ultra-precise Bragg grating writing-technology, invented in the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), has led to impacts in the areas of security, safety, detection of bio-hazards and the underpinning laser technology currently being pursued for clean energy generation for future energy security. This case study highlights two aspects of the technology namely: planar-based for optical microchip sensors in areas such as portable detection of biohazards, which has resulted in the spin-out Stratophase, and fibre-based, inside the US National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world's largest laser system, based in California, built for fusion-energy research, which has ORC fabricated fibre Bragg gratings within its laser amplifier chains. These ultra-high precision laser-written engineered gratings have enabled important advances in biosecurity, management of environmental hazards and clean energy research.

Submitting Institution

University of Southampton

Unit of Assessment

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Other Physical Sciences
Engineering: Materials Engineering
Technology: Communications Technologies

Cambridge Positioning Systems

Summary of the impact

An entirely new radio location technology developed at the University of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory underpinned developments within silicon and software company Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) of "Enhanced GPS" (eGPS) which has been incorporated into mobile phones, other mobile devices, and server technology. The server technology is now a central strategic element in CSR's "Location as a Service" business and by 2009 was powering 40 per cent of the available market worldwide.

Submitting Institution

University of Cambridge

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Geomatic Engineering
Technology: Communications Technologies

CamSemi

Summary of the impact

Research on high-voltage power devices by the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering (DoEng) was commercialised by its spin-off company, Cambridge Semiconductor Limited (CamSemi), which, in the REF period, has:

  • shipped more than 450 million power-management chips
  • secured private investment of over GBP35M
  • continued to employ 50-60 staff.

CamSemi chips are more efficient than traditional linear power supplies. The CamSemi chips that were produced before the end of the REF period are estimated to save of the order of 100GWh of electricity and 50,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year in total.

Submitting Institution

University of Cambridge

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Organic Chemistry
Engineering: Materials Engineering
Technology: Communications Technologies

Commercial and environmental impacts arising from the creation of a spin-out company: Antenova Ltd.

Summary of the impact

Antenova Ltd, a spin out company created to exploit University of Sheffield research, is a leading developer and supplier of high performance antennas and radio frequency (RF) antenna modules for wireless communication and consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, laptop computers and tablets. Significant commercial impact has been generated: Antenova has 6% of the global mobile antenna market (2 Billion units) and is a leader in the global antenna design market with a 15% share, employing 40 staff worldwide and with an annual turnover of about $8 million. To gain commercial advantage Microsoft Corporation bought out Antenova in 2013.

Small high dielectric constant chip antennas resulting from the underpinning research allow multiple wireless services to be provided on small devices such as smart phones and as these antennas are very efficient, save energy, extend battery life and so bring environmental benefit.

Submitting Institution

University of Sheffield

Unit of Assessment

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Technology: Communications Technologies

Commercialisation of a novel close-chamber technology for water vapour flux density measurements in skin.

Summary of the impact

This case study relates to research that has had an economic and application impact through the continued operation of a University spin out company, Biox Systems Ltd. The success of the Company's AquaFlux device for measuring aspects of skin barrier performance has, since 2008, resulted in:

  • Sales of 148 instruments producing revenues of £1.37million and net profits of £190k;
  • Exports into 15 countries accounting for 82% of revenues;
  • Significant reinvestment (£200k) in new product development;
  • 3 new full time technical level jobs.

Access to AquaFlux has enabled commercial and R&D organisations, including health care, household product and cosmetic industries, to gain better insights into the performance of their products. AquaFlux has been cited as the "gold standard" for Trans-Epidermal Water Loss (TEWL) measurement.

Submitting Institution

London South Bank University

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Other Physical Sciences
Chemical Sciences: Analytical Chemistry
Technology: Communications Technologies

2. Commercialisation of Guided Wave Inspection for the Detection of Corrosion in Pipes

Summary of the impact

Research led by Professors Cawley and Lowe (employed at Imperial College over the whole 1993-2013 period) resulted in guided wave inspection being established as a new non-destructive evaluation (NDE) method. It is used worldwide to screen long lengths of pipework for corrosion, particularly in the petrochemical industry. A spin-out company has been established that employs seven PhD graduates in NDE from Imperial and the technology is also licensed to another company. Turnover on equipment sales 2008-2013 exceeds £50M and the service companies using the equipment generate about £75M pa in revenue worldwide and employ about 300 FTE staff to carry out the inspection. The oil companies benefit from greatly reduced cost of inspection, especially in areas such as insulated, offshore and buried pipes where access is difficult and expensive for conventional inspection methods. Furthermore, the reliability of inspection is significantly improved, leading to major improvements in safety.

Submitting Institution

Imperial College London

Unit of Assessment

Aeronautical, Mechanical, Chemical and Manufacturing Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Other Physical Sciences
Technology: Communications Technologies
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences

Detecting airborne bio-organisms

Summary of the impact

Since the 1990s, the threat from malevolent release of airborne pathogens has grown in military and civilian contexts. However, solid-state UV lasers, central to the preferred fluorescence detection technologies, were prohibitively expensive for use in `low-cost' detectors. In 2001, Hertfordshire researchers proposed an alternative based on inexpensive xenon flashlamp sources, commonly used in disposable cameras. Between 2001 and 2006, they developed and optimised this approach, with the resulting `WIBS' technology now a core part of the UK military's bioaerosol defence programme and patented worldwide. The technology's affordability also has led to its growing international use in areas such as atmospheric science, climate research, and occupational health. In 2012, a commercial licence was purchased by a leading US instrumentation company to exploit in the field of atmospheric and climate science; discussions with further licensees to exploit in other fields are continuing.

Submitting Institution

University of Hertfordshire

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics, Other Physical Sciences
Technology: Communications Technologies

Developing frequency assignment techniques for British military communication systems

Summary of the impact

Between 1994 and 2000 Prof. Derek Smith developed algorithms that in the last 10 years have been incorporated into major communication systems used throughout the British Armed Forces. Previous systems were unable to reliably deal with the huge volume of data provided by modern intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, particularly suffering from interference between users. Since 2004, alternative systems (Bowman and Falcon) overcoming these deficiencies have been rolled out. Approximately 50000 radio sets using this technology have been manufactured and fitted to 15000 military vehicles, including the entire Royal Navy fleet and 75000 people required training in its use.

Submitting Institution

University of South Wales

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Computation Theory and Mathematics, Information Systems
Technology: Communications Technologies

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