Technologies

AT&T Is Using an Advanced Video Game Feature to Improve Your Phone Coverage

«Whatever Nvidia is doing for games, whatever Disney is doing … we are doing at a much bigger scale,» said AT&T’s Velin Kounev about using ray tracing to improve its network.

When you think of cellular networks, you probably envision radio towers and invisible data streams. But AT&T, by necessity, needs to see everything in between: buildings, trees and the multitude of obstacles that can interfere with wireless signals getting to your phone.

The cellular provider is turning to a key technology from gaming and computer graphics to get an accurate picture. AT&T Wireless Geo Modeler is a new system that uses ray tracing and AI to generate detailed representations of the areas covered by its network and improve connectivity. In doing so, AT&T says it can react to service interruptions quickly and also better predict how its network can be configured in response to large social events or during natural disasters.

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How ray tracing works in a cellular context

In computer graphics, ray tracing is a technique for rendering three-dimensional scenes. Software simulates light beams emanating from a virtual camera and calculates how the light affects objects and materials in the scene. Ray tracing is notable for rendering shadows and reflections, leading to more realistic-looking environments.

In the past, ray tracing was computationally challenging. Early examples, such as the original Toy Story movie, required rooms full of processing hardware and up to 24 hours to render a single frame of footage. The graphics processor in high-end smartphones can now render photorealistic, ray-traced scenes in games in real time.

According to Velin Kounev, lead inventive scientist at AT&T Labs, the technology’s cellular application works the same way. «Whatever Nvidia is doing for games, whatever Disney is doing… we are doing at a much bigger scale,» he said.

In the context of AT&T’s Geo Modeler, Kounev explained, radio propagation from cellular towers is high-frequency light that our eyes cannot see. The towers measure how the rays react to the surrounding environment, such as colliding with structures or reflecting off surfaces. That collected data is processed and analyzed by several internal AT&T systems and machine learning models to determine if changes or optimizations need to be made, in what AT&T calls «near scale time.»

Those changes can include everyday adjustments to the angle of nearby antennas or compensating for a tower that has gone offline during a natural disaster. Modifications can be deployed automatically in seconds or minutes, ideally in a way that doesn’t impact customers.

«We don’t want [customers] to notice,» said Jennifer Yates, assistant vice president of inventive science, network and service automation at AT&T Labs. «The network is self-healing [and] autonomous behind the scenes so they don’t have to think about it.»

The benefit can also be a technical challenge that you would never notice as an AT&T subscriber. «When you hit Lincoln Tunnel traffic at 5 o’clock in the afternoon and you can get your website loaded, that’s when we come in,» said Kounev. «We’re optimizing the network traffic … in rush hour, where you’re able to get your connection.»

Predicting where to deploy resources

Although day-to-day network optimization is one advantage of using the Geo Modeler, it’s also a tool for determining how and where the company should deploy resources during situations such as weather events. For instance, if a prominent tree is blown over during a storm, ray tracing can quickly build a new representation of how towers should compensate.

For large events like music festivals, where tens of thousands of phones are accessing the network or impending natural disasters, the technology can be used to predict upcoming changes that are needed; Kounev mentioned Geo Modeler was applied in April at the Coachella festival.

Kounev also explained that if a hurricane is coming, for example, knowing its estimated size and timing, «we can go in and within two minutes remove [within the model] the towers that we think are going to be affected, and then see what the network coverage is going to look like.» Knowing where to expect holes in the network allows AT&T to position resources, such as generators or mobile cellular towers, in place before the hurricane strikes.

Most predictive tools, said Kounev, rely on existing measurement data. «Because we use ray tracing, we can predict in places where there’s no measurement data.»

AT&T has been building the Geo Modeler for a year and has accumulated enough data from different use cases over that time to be confident about deploying it more broadly. Yates said that AT&T has performed extensive validation of data, comparing the modeler’s results with measurements in the field.

«Over the last year,» said Kounev, «we had to convince people that this thing can actually work in real time with the many tower stations they have.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 16, #950

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 16 #950.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has a very intriguing blue group. You’ll notice some band names, but can you locate what they have in common? Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Worn on heads.

Green group hint: Nighty-night.

Blue group hint: Bands with something alphabet-related in common.

Purple group hint: Like great.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Kinds of hats.

Green group: Components of a kid’s bedtime routine.

Blue group: Musical acts with «A» as the only vowel.

Purple group: Grand ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is kinds of hats. The four answers are derby, fedora, Panama and porkpie.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is components of a kid’s bedtime routine. The four answers are bath, brushing, pajamas and story.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is musical acts with «A» as the only vowel. The four answers are Alabama, Bananarama, Kansas and Santana.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is grand ____. The four answers are Bahama, Canyon, piano and slam.

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Quick tips for Connections

#1: Say the clue words out loud, pausing before and after each. That helps you hear the words in the context of a phrase. The Connections editors love to group words together that are used in similar phrasing, like ____ Up.

#2: Don’t go for the obvious grouping. These editors are smart. Once, they offered SPONGE, BOB, SQUARE and PANTS in the same puzzle. None of those words were in the same category. If you like, hit the «shuffle» button to give yourself a different perspective on the words.

#3: Break down any compound words and look for similarities. «Rushmore» was once in a puzzle where the connection was that each word started with the name of a rock band.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 16, #480

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 16, No. 480.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one, with some odd words and bizarre categories. If you’re struggling with it but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Don’t get hurt!

Green group hint: Exaggerated language.

Blue group hint: Ouch!

Purple group hint: Not northern.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Protective gear.

Green group: Hype.

Blue group: Sharp things.

Purple group: «Southern ____» schools.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is protective gear. The four answers are gloves, helmet, mouth guard and shoulder pads.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is hype. The four answers are anticipation, ballyhoo, buildup and buzz.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sharp things. The four answers are dart, hairpin turn, ice skate and javelin.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is «Southern ____» schools. The four answers are California, Illinois, Methodist and Miss.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Quick tips for Connections: Sports Edition

#1: Don’t grab for the easiest group. For each word, think about other sports categories it might fit in – is this a word that can be used in football, or to describe scoring options?

#2: Second meanings are important. The puzzle loves to use last names and even college names that mean other things, to fool you into thinking they are words, not names.

#3: And the opposite is also true. Words like HURTS might seem like a regular word, but it’s also the last name of at least one pro athlete.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, Jan. 16

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 16.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I thought it was exceptionally tough today, and was convinced 1-Across was «MAD» Max. (Spoiler, it’s not.) I also figured 1-Down was BOOZE, which did not work with 1-Across, and was wrong either way. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.