In this post I'll share my experience in adjustment of WiFi physical channel. The channel was implemented on a software defined radio (SDR) platform. WiFi looks like a very complicated thing standardized over hundreds of pages. Could a non-expert with a PC and a couple of 100$ devices (HackRFs) somehow improve it? Here I try to develop a WiFi optimization approach basically agnostic of protocol implementation details. There's some math and Python programming in it.
Journey to find a headset with a good side talk cancellation mic for calls in an open office
Easy
6 min
Review
TL;DR: All AI-based noise cancellations suck, only the physical cancellation technique works! And physical cancellation is implemented well only in Jabra devices yet, but other features suck them! All Bluetooth headsets suck too! So, no solution yet, just complaints!
The environment: I work in a pretty talky office room, where sit around 10 people, and all of them have many online conferences every day, including me. So, silence in the room is a rare situation.
The problem: The main problem is that most of the microphones pick up all side talk pretty loud, which makes it very unpleasant for other people to listen to my voice in meetings!
What is a Grill With Wi-Fi and Why Use it?
5 min
Technology is rapidly changing all parts of our life. This is starting to impact the way that you grill your food. We’ve seen some new wi-fi grills hitting the market. But what is this and what advantages does it have over the other grills on the market? Let’s delve deeper into the world of wi-fi grills to find these answers.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen the rise of wi-fi technology. It’s allowed us to automate our lives, making a lot of things easier. For example, now you’ll be able to turn on the lights at home from an app on your phone. You can start preheating the oven for dinner when you leave the office. This technology has always existed in the world of grilling. For example, you could purchase a thermometer, which lets you monitor the internal temperature of the meat from your phone.
A grill with wi-fi, though, takes this concept to the next level. Using this technology, you’ll be able to control a lot of aspects of the grilling process. For example, you’ll be able to set the temperature of the grill. Sensors in the grill will then help to automatically adjust the heat to fit your preferences. You can also control when the grill turns itself on and off. The features will often depend on the model that you purchase.
What is a Wi-Fi Grill?
Over the last few years, we’ve seen the rise of wi-fi technology. It’s allowed us to automate our lives, making a lot of things easier. For example, now you’ll be able to turn on the lights at home from an app on your phone. You can start preheating the oven for dinner when you leave the office. This technology has always existed in the world of grilling. For example, you could purchase a thermometer, which lets you monitor the internal temperature of the meat from your phone.
A grill with wi-fi, though, takes this concept to the next level. Using this technology, you’ll be able to control a lot of aspects of the grilling process. For example, you’ll be able to set the temperature of the grill. Sensors in the grill will then help to automatically adjust the heat to fit your preferences. You can also control when the grill turns itself on and off. The features will often depend on the model that you purchase.
Bluetooth stack modifications to improve audio quality on headphones without AAC, aptX, or LDAC codecs
7 min
Before reading this article, it is recommended to read the previous one: Audio over Bluetooth: most detailed information about profiles, codecs, and devices / по-русски
Some wireless headphone users note low sound quality and lack of high frequencies when using the standard Bluetooth SBC codec, which is supported by all headphones and other Bluetooth audio devices. A common recommendation to get better sound quality is to buy devices and headphones with aptX or LDAC codecs support. These codecs require licensing fees, that's why devices with them are more expensive.
It turns out that the low quality of SBC is caused by artificial limitations of all current Bluetooth stacks and headphones' configuration, and this limitation can be circumvented on any existing device with software modification only.
Some wireless headphone users note low sound quality and lack of high frequencies when using the standard Bluetooth SBC codec, which is supported by all headphones and other Bluetooth audio devices. A common recommendation to get better sound quality is to buy devices and headphones with aptX or LDAC codecs support. These codecs require licensing fees, that's why devices with them are more expensive.
It turns out that the low quality of SBC is caused by artificial limitations of all current Bluetooth stacks and headphones' configuration, and this limitation can be circumvented on any existing device with software modification only.
Audio over Bluetooth: most detailed information about profiles, codecs, and devices
24 min
This article is also available in Russian / Эта статья также доступна на русском языке
The mass market of smartphones without the 3.5 mm audio jack changed headphones industry, wireless Bluetooth headphones have become the main way to listen to music and communicate in headset mode for many users.
Bluetooth device manufacturers rarely disclose detailed product specifications, and Bluetooth audio articles on the Internet are contradictory and sometimes incorrect. They do not tell about all the features, and often publish the same false information.
Let's try to understand the protocol, the capabilities of Bluetooth stacks, headphones and speakers, Bluetooth codecs for music and speech, find out what affects the quality of the transmitted audio and the delay, learn how to capture and decode information about supported codecs and other device features.
TL;DR:
- SBC codec is OK
- Headphones have their own per-codec equalizer and post processing configuration
- aptX is not as good as the advertisements say
- LDAC is a marketing fluff
- Voice audio quality is still low
- Browsers are able to execute audio encoders compiled to WebAssembly from C using emscripten, and they won't even lag.
Choosing true wireless earbuds: 6 months later…
6 min
Translation
Once I put on true wireless headphones and all the cables after that (even if it's a flexible headband on a “wireless” headset), became annoying. So I’ve tried a lot of AirPods-like earbuds in order to find the best ones. In 2018 aside from the AirPods themselves I tried: Jabra Elite 65+, Samsung IconX 2018 and Sony WF-1000X. The result was a neat table with all the objective data. Everything else — my personal opinion — let's discuss in the comments.
6 Applications for the Industrial IoT
6 min
“Come on, baby, what’s wrong? Tell me what you need,” my uncle Nicholas was shredding up his old car’s engine, which totally refused to start. Being a schoolboy back then, I was absolutely sure that any exhortation my uncle voiced was powerless against a dumb ton of metal. Talking to a car was just a psychological trick that probably helped my uncle cope with exasperation. Moreover, neither me nor my uncle believed in a possibility to communicate with “dead metal” sometime in the near future. That was in the mid-1980s. When I reached the age of my uncle, the situation changed radically.