Wireless Technology
Going wireless
Martin Poppelaars looks at the business case for wireless connectivity and considers the benefits and trade offs that exist between different complex wired solutions
However, designing an effective wireless- networking solution requires an understanding of today’s complex wireless technologies, their benefits, and their trade-offs. With wireless technologies becoming
Martin Poppelaars C
ompanies in just about every industry are looking to wireless technology to connect serial devices and avoid the high cost of installing cable. Low-cost wireless links reduce installation and maintenance costs and provide mobility.
20 December 2011/January 2012
increasingly pervasive in the marketplace, companies may be looking to these as a key business driver for 2012. But before any investment is made, it’s important to take stock of the reasons for your businesses to go wireless in the first place. What technologies are currently available, where are they used, and what concrete benefits do they bring? In exploring this, the true value of wireless for your business can de determined, and the right purchase can be made. Local Area Networks (LANs) run on wire cable. Wire is expensive to install and difficult to reconfigure for changes in the production environment. It does not allow for mobility, and there are certain places it simply cannot go. For instance, running cable throughout a factory floor is extremely difficult if not impossible. Because of these limitations, WLANs (wireless LANs) have become a hot commodity, revolutionising the way we work and do business today. Data applications running over wireless
Components in Electronics
networks can be found everywhere in our daily lives. They are particularly attractive to industries where certain functions are difficult to perform because of large areas, harsh operating conditions, or other restrictions.
Some specific real-world examples include the following:
Healthcare
As news of medical mistakes become more public, wireless applications are also becoming a key component in improving accuracy and quality of care in hospitals. Now hospital emergency-room doctors can examine a seriously injured patient, order x-rays, have the patient transferred to surgery, and receive the x-rays electronically in the operating room. In addition, physicians can remotely check a patient’s status, test results, medication schedules, or other information based on up-to-date entries made by nurses on their rounds. Quality of care improves dramatically as patient information is more accessible wirelessly and as more accurate information is recorded by immediate record keeping.
Retail
Retailers work in increasingly competitive environments, and as a result, are seeking ways to improve productivity, reduce costs, and generate incremental revenue. WLANs and the applications that run over them offer proven solutions. Popular examples include multimedia kiosks and self-service displays that employ audio, video, animation, and graphics to run point of sale (POS) and information applications. By
improving the timeliness and flow of information, these wireless solutions lead to better overall customer satisfaction and increased profitability. A major music store, for example, has set up wireless kiosks that provide real-time streaming of music videos, seasonal fashion displays, ticket-selling services, local web access, on-line music sampling, and other content residing on a video server.
Transport To reduce the costs of vehicle damage, a major rental-car agency is using a wireless system that allows damaged cars to be inspected and an appraisal prepared within two minutes. The company estimates that it will save millions of pounds per year on unrecovered costs. It also ensures that crucial customer information and signatures are not lost.
Manufacturing A major facility control centre had problems operating process-control equipment on a legacy network that was independent of the LAN. To network- enable all of the process control equipment at the support centre would have required more than 1,500 feet of wiring and conduit spanning multiple buildings, a costly and time-intensive project. Instead, wireless device servers have been integrated to Ethernet-enable all of the equipment in the support centre. This solution also delivers significant time- savings, as over 500 PCs in the support centre have access to real-time information as it is generated by the process control equipment. This eliminates the need for a
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