Joe Gregorio
The NYTimes has an interesting article on a team of electrical engineers at the California Institute of Technology creating a single chip with all the functions of a radar system. Not only can it be used for typical radar uses, it can also be used for high speed communications.
"D.S.L. can go to several hundred kilobits, and fiber can go to several gigabits per second," Dr. Hajimiri said. The radar chip can achieve bit rates up to a gigabit per second, partly because of the concentrated nature of the beam, he said. "The beam created by the chip is highly focused," he said.
Ok, so it's currently in the lab, but this looks like something that can seriously solve the last-mile problem. It will be interesting to watch.