Developing Practical Wireless Applications

Wide-area and Personal-area Communications 41

Chapter 3

drives consumerism, accompanied with an unguided and untested stream of expecta-

tions? Or perhaps, do we have a team of techno-geeks, riding a wave of techie-ness

claiming that this all new signing-and-dancing gadget will undoubtedly revolutionize

someone’s life? Let’s hope that this dichotomy of expectation and needs converge to

ultimately guide the revolution.

Summary

■

Wireless communications as a transport medium has enabled electronic devices to

exchange data wirelessly, transparently and effortlessly.

■

It wasn’t until the 1940s that we saw the emergence of commercial digital wireless

and cellular technology.

■

Wide-area and personal-area communications share a common radio medium in

which data is transferred between electronic devices.

■

Consumer perception and usage scenarios distinguish wide- and personal-area

technologies.

■

Cellular and satellite communication are tried and trusted technologies that have

been around for many years.

■

We’ve come to know wide-area communications as telecommunications.

■

With telecommunications, users have been able to establish a level of familiarity

where the wireless capability is no longer the perceived application.

■

New wireless technology focuses on the development of personal-area

communications.

■

Bluetooth, WiFi, WiMAX and so on, afford the user greater flexibility in their

personal and/or working environment.

■

Personal-area technology allows users to create their own personal communications

environment.

■

Wide- and personal-area communications may overlap, where the combination of

each environment allows the user to exchange data over distance.

■

One distinction that can be made between wide- and personal-area is familiarity.

■

Users no longer perceive a cell phone as a wireless-enabled product.

■

This notion holds true for the cordless telephone.

■

Users may only perceive the intended telephone functionality, rather than its

inherent wireless capability.

■

In time we will see users adopting the same familiarity with a cell phone and a

Bluetooth-enabled headset, for example.

■

There has been an emergence of generations of wide-area technologies each

depicting the advancement of applications and digital capability.

■

The generation of telecommunications started with 1G and has evolved to 2G,

2.75G and 3G.

■

Many companies are sketching out 4G, but it’s still unclear what this will actually

mean.

■

Some argue that 4G will in fact become wireless convergence, the amalgamation

of personal-area and wide-area technologies.

■

Companies are striving to achieve added-value and improved services and applications.

■

A new host of wide-area applications will emerge extending the notion of mobility.

■

Personal-area focuses on the ability to be mobile and free from the constraints of

a fixed environment.

■

We need to ensure that the direction of wireless technology justifies a particular

need that, in turn, becomes well suited to meet the expectations of the consumers.

■

We need to question who is in the driving seat of the new technology revolution.

■

A combination of “marketers and techno-geeks” will ultimately guide the revolution.

42 Developing Practical Wireless Applications