A knowledge center worth bookmarking.

Latency in a drone video link, measured honestly

A radio quoted at twenty milliseconds can sit inside a system that takes four hundred. Glass to glass is the only figure that matters.

August 2026
11 minute read

Choosing the camera, the lens and the trigger

Most inspection systems that fail were decided at the lens, not at the model. Resolution runs backwards from the defect.

RFID, NFC and UWB: what each one is actually for

Three technologies answering three different questions. Choosing on the wrong axis is the expensive error here.

How UWB actually measures distance

Thirty centimetres per nanosecond, so sub-metre accuracy is a sub-three-nanosecond timing problem. Everything hard follows from that.

August 2026
11 minute read

How 5G NR redefined the cell

A cell is now a synchronisation block and an identity, not a transmitter — which is why moving across a building need not generate a handover.

Radio cascading: how deep can you daisy-chain radio units?

Bandwidth, timing accumulation and failure domain each bound the chain. The tightest one wins, and it is usually bandwidth.

The user plane function, and where it should actually sit

Central, edge or cell site — the placement sets the latency floor. It is also the anchor where 5G and Wi-Fi converge on one session.

EVM: what it measures, and what it hides

Six mechanisms degrade a constellation, they add in power, and the largest dominates — so decompose before optimising.

Linearisation in 5G: why the amplifier decides the power bill

CFR and DPD exist because OFDM peaks sit where amplifiers are least efficient. That efficiency is a recurring operating cost.

MOCN, MORAN and neutral host: three ways to share a radio network

What each model shares, the broadcast identity limit that caps tenants, and why sharing fails on operations rather than radio.

N3IWF: bringing Wi-Fi into the 5G core

Reaching the 5G core over a network the operator does not own — and where that is cheaper than building coverage.

Anchor bands and EN-DC: why 5G still needs LTE

In non-standalone deployment 5G coverage cannot exceed the LTE anchor, which explains much of what users actually experience.

Choosing cellular for smart metering: NB-IoT, LTE-M and RedCap

Decided by coverage in the worst basement in the estate, not by throughput — and by whether the network still exists in year twelve.

Connected point of sale: where the engineering actually is

A payment terminal is a security product that happens to take payments. Tamper response and certification govern the schedule.

August 2026
11 minute read

Item-level tracking for high-value goods in distribution logistics

Density, custody handovers and tamper evidence — and why DECT NR+, with no operator and no base station, changes the arithmetic.

When does FPGA-to-ASIC conversion make business sense?

The volume arithmetic, the thresholds, the hidden costs estimates miss, and the cases where the honest answer is no.

How AI visual inspection integrates with PLC and MES

Trigger and encoder, verdict timing, part tracking, reject actuation, the fault protocol and traceability.

August 2026
7 minute read

Technology

Cellular-first tracking with NTN satellite fallback

How coverage continuity is architected, what escalation policy should look like, and what a satellite message actually costs.

Reference

Choosing a wireless link for asset tracking

NFC, RFID, BLE, UWB, LoRaWAN, cellular and satellite compared on range, accuracy, battery life and infrastructure.

August 2026
7 minute read

Process node selection for mixed-signal and secure silicon

Why 180 nm is frequently the right answer, and when an advanced node genuinely earns its mask cost.

Designing over-the-air update before you ship

Partition layout, bootloader design, signing and staged rollout — decisions that cannot be retrofitted into a deployed fleet.