A Carleton University Engineering student has found a way to increase the battery life in smartphones by as much as 12 times. Electronics PhD student Atif Shamim built a wireless connector module that replaces the tiny network of wires used to connect all the electronic circuits with a phone's antenna, thereby increasing efficiency. Apart from using up less energy than conventional, wired methods, the design is also simpler and therefore lowers the cost of hand-held devices, Shamim maintains.

A packaging technique of the invention involves connecting the antenna with the circuits via a wireless connection thanks to a micro-antenna embedded within the circuits on the chip. Judges at the European Wireless Technology Conference said the student's idea has a "large potential for commercialization" and is "highly relevant." The paper on the invention was co-authored by student Muhammad Arsalan and adviser Langis Roy of Carleton’s department of electronics.

Shamim has applied for patents for his invention in both the US and Canada. It has not been announced when the technology is expected to reach the market. [via Canwest]