Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by MichailP 2669 days ago
Does this also mean that soon every computer will be making noise/radiating waves around 40GHz? Can someone with more depth in this area shine some light on this?
6 comments

PCI Express is already working at those data rates.
Computer cases are electrically insulated.
As any radio amateur will tell you, PC shielding in the wild is generally poor. Plus the vast majority of PC RFI is radiated via the connected cables ( be that USB or the power cable ) or the monitor which form broad-spectrum antennas.

A PC and its appendages is a horrendous radio squawk-box and should be kept away from anything RFI-sensitive. The FCC 'must not cause harmful interference' clause is pretty worthless.

Thunderbolt is PCIe.
Not quite: https://twitter.com/whitequark/status/1097777102563074048

"Thunderbolt, uh, does not expose PCIe lanes directly. Thunderbolt is an MPLS-like packet switching network that can encapsulate PCIe TLPs over a PHY and MAC without a spec, chips without documentation, and software with barely any support."

Thunderbolt encapsulates PCIe frames. It's not PCIe any more than say ethernet is UDP.
The USB consortium is mostly EEs, and probably a majority analog EEs. I wouldn't worry about this.
One more question. Does this also mean that soon every computer will become software defined radio up to 40GHz?
No, they combine multiple lanes at a lower clock rate.

Additionally, the cables are twisted pair, which among other things minimizes emission. And high-speed cables are also supposed to be shielded.

I think the signaling is more like 10 GHz and data is scrambled to spread EMI over a wide range.
USB cables are supposed to be shielded.
Is tinfoil-hatesque EMF poisoning real?

I personally believe that it is real (just go camping where there's no service and you'll feel better) but it's hard to prove without decades of study and money, which won't happen because there's so much money to be made.

There are other reasons why camping makes you feel better. Earthing/grounding gets you in touch with the earth's natural schumann resonance (through the canvas tent) and the fresh air. Also too getting away from distractions.

There's a real study on this, but they don't speculate what the cause it: http://time.com/4656550/camping-sleep-insomnia/

Could that just be the feeling of being outdoors, and away from distractions for a while?
Stop thinking about it and go with your gut feeling. EMFs are clearly the only reason you would feel better camping. /s
I dunno, but turning my home circuit breakers off does make me feel better