Technology
Cambridge start-up to develop locational data system for shared transport networks
R4DAR Technologies, a Cambridige, UK, tech start-up has secured funding from the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) in the Geospatial Transport Innovation Competition to study the feasibility of a cutting-edge locational data solution for widescale use in shared transport networks, smart city and smart mobility applications. Its low-cost radar identifi cation beacons were originally developed to enhance advanced driver assistance systems. Now they will be used to augment the accuracy of geospatial data captured by urban traffi c management and control (UTMC) systems, smart motorways and Connected Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) technologies, regardless of the weather or lighting conditions. T e main shortcoming of existing traffi c/
pedestrian management solutions is their restricted object identifi cation capabilities, particularly in low light or poor weather. T is limitation poses signifi cant safety concerns, especially for cyclists, pedestrians and e-scooter riders, who may not be immediately visible to larger vehicles, proven a major barrier to the widescale adoption of healthier and greener modes of transport. R4DAR’s unique solution overcomes these
concerns by accurately communicating the location, identity and status of diff erent road users to the traffi c management infrastructure equipped with radar. T is is done through data
R4DAR Technologies’s beacons will accurately pinpoint the type and location of road users for safe traffi c management
exchange between the radar and an ID beacon mounted on each vehicle, bicycle, e-scooter or roadside infrastructure. Moreover, the system can distinguish diff erent road-user types, such as cars, maintenance vehicles, roadside workers, etc, for accurate, real-time decision making. “Smart infrastructure is fundamental to the
wider-scale adoption of bicycles, e-scooters or walking as the preferred form of transport in
complex, shared transport environments,” said Clem Robertson, Founder and CEO of R4DAR. Transport is one of nine key geospatial
data opportunities, and Innovate UK and partners introduced a £2m Small Business Initiative Transport Location Data Competition to accelerate the development of novel technologies to overcome the current transport limitations.
CEA-Leti prepares a quantum-photonics platform for ultra-secure data transmission
CEA-Leti is building a quantum-photonics platform to develop next-generation technologies for ultra-secure data transmission. Quantum technology promises extremely safe data encryption, suitable for the fi nance, healthcare, energy, telecommunications and defence sectors. “We read about breaches of standard
cryptographic protocols almost daily, with major fi nancial loss and security-risk implications and the threat to critical infrastructure, such as power grids,” said Ségolène Olivier, R&D project leader at CEA-Leti. “With the future advent of quantum computers, the risk will drastically increase, as current encryption algorithms are no longer secure. Quantum cryptography can help here, as it is not a vulnerable technology.”
Funded by Carnot, a French multidisci-
plinary R&D network, the project will build on CEA-Leti’s silicon-photonics platform, with its quantum characterisation equipment for designing, processing and testing quantum- photonic ICs and components. T e Institute uses photons to build quantum bits (qubits) for quantum communication. T e three-year project will fabricate silicon-
photonics circuits that generate single photons, manipulate those photons with linear optical components such as slow and rapid phase shiſt ers, and detect them with superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPD). T e project will build demonstrators that transmit and receive information in a quantum-based system for ultra-secure cryptography. For example, the
demonstrators will include an integrated qubit transmitter, generating single photons and entangling them. In addition, the CEA-Leti team will focus on integrating the qubit transmitter and receiver on a single platform to address quantum-computing applications. Noting that a quantum system based on
single-photon qubits must ensure minimal propagation loss of photons for reliability, Olivier said CEA-Leti’s silicon photonics platform has achieved a world-record of low- loss silicon and ultralow-loss silicon-nitride waveguides: “Propagation losses in waveguides directly impact the data rate and reach of quantum communications links, which is why it is so important to build ultralow-loss components and circuits.”
www.electronicsworld.co.uk February 2021 05
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