Hideo Oka and
his team of electronic engineers at Iwate University in Morioka,
Japan, have come up with a solution to the problem of annoying
mobile phones in public places. Up until now the only solution
for places such as cinemas, theatres, and other public places
is a mobile phone jammer. These devices are banned in many countries,
however, including the U.K. and USA, because they can block
signals outside the range of the places using them, e.g., the
street outside a cinema.
The team of Japanese
researchers have solved this problem by creating "magnetic
wood." It is called magnetic due to the magnetic particles
the wood contains. What Oka and his team have done is sandwich
a layer of nickel-zinc ferrite between two pieces of wood. The
ferrite stops 97% of signals from passing through in tests,
and the use of wood is simple aesthetically, allowing designers
the freedom to create the look they want within a room while
providing a signal-blocking solution at the same time. Thus,
this seems to be a perfect mobile cell phone jammer.
Four different
mobile jammer designs were tried with this being the best solution.
Testing was done by putting a ring of the material around an
antenna that broadcast radio signals at 900 MHz and 1.8 GHz.
The strength of the signals (if there was one at all) was measured
by a receiver across the room. By varying the thickness of the
wood that surrounds the ferrite the frequency of signals that
can be blocked increases, but a 4 mm thick panel seems best
for blocking mobile phone signals.
The panels (mobile
phone jammers) will be popular with cinemas and theatres initially,
but they will have other uses as well. Businesses and homes
running wireless networks may also be interested in stopping
people outside the building from tapping in, and cutting interference
if many homes close together have competing wireless installations.