The Royal Australian Mint has released the “Bright Ideas” coin series, honouring five Australian inventions. One of them is high-speed wireless local area networking (WLAN), developed by CSIRO and the basis of modern Wi-Fi. The release marks the centenary of CSIRO, the national science agency.
In the 1990s, a five-person team in CSIRO’s Radiophysics Division set out to reach 100 Mbps without wires, when systems of the time managed only 1 to 2 Mbps. The main obstacle was radio signals echoing off walls and furniture, which they solved using radio astronomy know-how and mathematics.
The technology was patented and included in an international standard for high-performance wireless networks. Today it is found in more than 20 billion devices worldwide.
The collection is on sale through the Mint’s shop and participating outlets, and a special $2 coin on this theme will enter circulation.
