Data Communications - Japanese Firms Develop Plasterboard for Faster WLAN
November 17, 2004
WLAN (Wireless-Local-Area-Network) providers were greeted with positive news this week, as Kumagai Gumi announced that it has developed treated plasterboard material that enhances data transfer rates by absorbing 99% of the incident energy of electromagnetic waves reflected off of walls and furniture.
Kumagai Gumi said that two versions of the new material are being prepared, one for 2.5GHz and the other for 5.2GHz. Tests revealed that when the material for 2.5GHz is placed on all four walls in a room, the average speed of data communications increases by more than 50%. For 5.2GHz, data rates are around 10% faster.
The new treated plasterboard material not only has the advantage of faster data transfer rates, but also costs less than one-fifth of the current standard. The material currently in use absorbs around 60-70% of incident energy.
Kumagai Gumi spent two years developing the new material in cooperation with Yoshino Gypsum and Ojitac. Yoshino Gypsum and a subsidiary of Kumagai Gumi will begin marketing the new material in January 2005. The three companies hope to sell 50,000 sq. meters of material in the first year.