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Saudi Arabia’s KAUST Develops New Approach to Protect Aircraft from 5G Signal Interference 

Saudi Arabia’s KAUST Develops New Approach to Protect Aircraft from 5G Signal Interference 
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Saudi Arabia’s KAUST Develops New Approach to Protect Aircraft from 5G Signal Interference 

Saudi Arabia’s KAUST Develops New Approach to Protect Aircraft from 5G Signal Interference 

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) developed a new mathematical approach to protect aircraft from interference caused by mobile communication signals, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Wednesday.

The solution was published in the scientific journal IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, where the team described the concept of an “ideal exclusion zone” that protects critical aircraft systems while simultaneously enhancing the performance of fifth-generation (5G) networks.

The results are expected to assist aviation and telecommunications regulators in formulating policies for network deployment near air traffic routes.

This marks the first time stochastic geometry - a mathematical method used to model randomly placed network elements - has been applied to predict how 5G signals interact with aircraft radio altimeters.

Data is transmitted as electromagnetic waves across specific frequency bandwidths. The wider the frequency bandwidth, the faster data is shared. 5G operates at the widest frequency bandwidth, allowing the transmission of more data at faster rates. However, some bandwidths become problematic with other systems.

The study’s lead researcher at KAUST, Professor Mohamed-Slim Alouini, explained that 5G operates near the same bandwidth as aircraft radio altimeters, which may cause signal interference. This, he noted, highlights the need to establish exclusion zones to reduce interference levels.

Although 5G networks have already caused numerous flight cancellations worldwide due to interference, Alouini’s team proposed a solution based on establishing exclusion zones where 5G towers operate only at lower frequency bands, relying on previously available spectrum instead of the newer, higher-frequency bands.

Stochastic geometry is used to analyze different shapes of exclusion zones, with triangular areas around runways shown to preserve radio altimeter signals while minimizing the loss of 5G network performance. The team applied this method to predict interference patterns and assess the impact of various exclusion zone designs on safety and performance.

The results indicated that 5G performance drops by 20% with just one tower inside the zone, and by up to 50% with three towers.

The implications of this study extend beyond the Kingdom, as many countries have already imposed restrictions on 5G networks near airports due to concerns over aircraft radio altimeters.

Conducted with support from Saudi Arabia’s Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST), the study is expected to help shape global policies that enable the coexistence of 5G networks and radio altimeters.

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Technology

China Bets on AI Weather Forecasting as Extreme Weather Intensifies

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a man walks against strong wind and rain as Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall at Dongsha community in Yuhuan, Taizhou, eastern China's Zhejiang Province on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a man walks against strong wind and rain as Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall at Dongsha community in Yuhuan, Taizhou, eastern China's Zhejiang Province on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. (Xinhua via AP)
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China Bets on AI Weather Forecasting as Extreme Weather Intensifies

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a man walks against strong wind and rain as Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall at Dongsha community in Yuhuan, Taizhou, eastern China's Zhejiang Province on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a man walks against strong wind and rain as Typhoon Dolphin makes landfall at Dongsha community in Yuhuan, Taizhou, eastern China's Zhejiang Province on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. (Xinhua via AP)

As meteorologists tracked Typhoon Dolphin's path toward China in recent days, a new generation of artificial intelligence weather models worked alongside traditional forecasting systems, highlighting China's emergence as a leading player in the race to improve weather prediction.

Chinese-developed systems, including Shanghai AI Laboratory-developed Fengwu, Huawei's Pangu and Fudan University's Fuxi, are among a handful of AI forecasting models that researchers say can generate forecasts much faster than conventional systems while matching or surpassing them on some measures of accuracy.

For decades, weather prediction has relied on numerical models running on supercomputers that simulate atmospheric ‌physics. AI models ‌instead learn patterns from vast archives of historical weather observations and ‌can ⁠produce forecasts in ⁠a fraction of the time.

The technology is increasingly being tested during typhoon season in East Asia, where even small improvements in track forecasts can help authorities better prepare for flooding, organize evacuations and manage potential transport disruptions.

The rise of AI weather forecasting has created a new arena of competition among technology companies, research institutes and meteorological agencies, with China emerging as one of the field's leading players.

Among the best-known AI forecasting systems globally are Google's GraphCast and ⁠GenCast, Nvidia-backed FourCastNet and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts' AI ‌Forecasting System, known as AIFS.

'PEOPLE NEED INFORMATION'

Fengwu attracted ‌attention after developers reported it outperformed GraphCast across roughly 80% of evaluated weather variables and extended ‌skillful global medium-range forecasts beyond 10 days.

"With more extreme weather, people need information to ‌make decisions, both local governments, the national government, also the average person, farmers and fisherman," said Sun Zhi, the CTO of Techwind, the company responsible for Fengwu's industrial applications.

"So we want to help provide better information so people can make decisions."

While AI systems are becoming an increasingly important complement to ‌conventional forecasting because of their speed and lower computing costs, they are unlikely to fully replace traditional weather models in the ⁠near future.

According to ⁠Techwind's Sun, AI models are already capable of predicting the path of typhoons — five days out from Dolphin's landfall Fengwu predicted the time and place it would hit mainland China to within 30 minutes and 30 km (19 miles) — but they still lag conventional weather forecasts in predicting the intensity of a storm and they are still untested predicting major climate developments.

"If we predict a climate change event 18 months in advance, people won't believe it," Sun said.

"They need to know it's reliable. We need to do years of scientific research before people trust us when we say there will be an El Nino event or we say the changing temperature on the sea's surface will affect the breeding cycle of fish."

As the tech forecasters work to make their systems ever more sophisticated, the concurrent use of both methods is likely to continue for some time.

Technology

Intel Raises $20 Billion from Upsized Share Sale

The Intel logo is displayed on computer screens at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles, California, US, July 31, 2017. (Reuters)
The Intel logo is displayed on computer screens at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles, California, US, July 31, 2017. (Reuters)
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Intel Raises $20 Billion from Upsized Share Sale

The Intel logo is displayed on computer screens at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles, California, US, July 31, 2017. (Reuters)
The Intel logo is displayed on computer screens at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles, California, US, July 31, 2017. (Reuters)

Intel raised $20 billion from an upsized share offering on Tuesday, as it looks to fund the costly build-out of its chip contract manufacturing business by cashing in on a stock surge fueled by its turnaround efforts.

Once a dominant force in the global chip industry, Intel is investing heavily in new facilities and advanced packaging capabilities as it seeks to challenge industry leaders such as TSMC in contract chip manufacturing.

Intel priced the offering at $95 per share, which was a discount of 2.6% from the previous close. The chipmaker said ‌on Monday it aimed ‌to raise $15 billion through the share sale.

Bloomberg ‌first ⁠reported the size ⁠of the upsized offering.

Intel's shares fell more than 4% on Monday. As of Monday, the stock has nearly tripled so far this year, outperforming rivals AMD and Nvidia and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index's nearly 75% rise.

Several analysts have said Intel's surging share price has increased the chances of an equity raise to help fund its expansion plans.

"As a capital-intensive business ⁠that went a long way to wrecking its own balance ‌sheet and prospects by focusing ‌on financial engineering rather than physical engineering, courtesy of $82 billion of share buybacks in the ‌2010s, it makes perfect sense for Intel to raise money, especially ‌after a five-fold increase in the stock price since last August," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

The shift toward AI agents has powered demand for central processing units beyond Intel's manufacturing capacity, prompting the chipmaker to raise its ‌capital expenditure forecast for this year from $18 billion to $20 billion in July.

It also committed to high-volume production ⁠of chips ⁠using its 14A manufacturing process in 2028, after previously warning the technology could be shelved without a major external customer.

Its foundry unit has won Tesla as a 14A customer and optimism for another marquee client grew after US President Donald Trump said Apple would make processors with Intel, though neither company confirmed it.

Last month, Intel announced a €5 billion ($5.77 billion) investment to upgrade and expand chip manufacturing in Ireland, a project that represents more than 25% of its planned 2026 capital spending.

JPMorgan Securities, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Global Markets are acting as joint book-running managers.

Technology

SDAIA Launches AI Creativity Boot Camp to Reshape Digital Content Future

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) launched on Monday the AI Creativity Boot Camp. (SPA)
The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) launched on Monday the AI Creativity Boot Camp. (SPA)
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SDAIA Launches AI Creativity Boot Camp to Reshape Digital Content Future

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) launched on Monday the AI Creativity Boot Camp. (SPA)
The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) launched on Monday the AI Creativity Boot Camp. (SPA)

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) launched on Monday the AI Creativity Boot Camp, bringing together leading creative content creators from across the Kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The program aims to enhance participants’ capabilities and enable them to leverage advanced technological skills to develop innovative ideas and digital content. It also seeks to keep pace with the rapid technological transformations taking place in creative industries worldwide.

The boot camp comes in response to the rapidly growing role of artificial intelligence technologies in the media and content creation sectors. It aims to enable participants to harness the capabilities of these technologies to accelerate production processes, improve the quality of outputs, and open new avenues for innovation.

These efforts seek to provide Saudi creatives with a sustainable competitive advantage in the modern media landscape.

The boot camp's training program focuses on developing participants' practical skills across the various stages of content creation, from generating ideas to producing high-impact final outputs. It also emphasizes the responsible and ethical use of emerging technologies while preserving human creativity as a fundamental pillar in shaping messages and generating lasting intellectual impact.