Wireless connectivity juin 21, 2006
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eLab – Wireless connectivity.ppt
There are many technologies and standards in the domain of wireless connectivity. Some are complementary, others are in direct competition. The most interesting ones are presented below.
WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a technical standard for broadband wireless access, providing an alternative to cable and DSL last-mile access. WiMax technologies are developed by the WiMax Forum, a group of more than 200 companies, providers and carriers. The WiMax standard has a theoretical bandwith of 70 Mb/s and a theoretical range of 50 km. In practice, it reaches 12 Mb/s with a range of 20 km. The first large scale tests started in 2006 for fixed access (home to WiMax base station) and in the coming years WiMax should also support mobile access (mobile to WiMax base station and mobile to mobile).
Comparison with Wi-Fi: larger bandwith (typically 12 Mb/s against 2 Mb/s) and larger coverage distance (typically 10 km against 30-50 m); however WiMax networks requires a license, whereas Wi-Fi networks can be set up by anyone.
WiBro (Wireless Broadband) is a proprietary mobile broadband wireless access technology, developed by Korean telecom industry and supported by the government. Also it is in direct competition with WiMax, WiBro joined the WiMax Forum and agreed to harmonize with the mobile version of the standard.
Bluetooth is a short-range radio communication protocol providing a way to connect and exchange information between devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers and digital cameras via short range radio frequency. Popular uses are wireless headset for mobile phones, PC mouse or keyboards, transfer of contact details, calendar appointments, and reminders between devices, wireless controllers of a games console, etc.
UWB (Ultra-Wideband) technology allows high-speed connections for short-range, wireless personal networks, to transmit video, audio and other high-bandwidth data between consumer electronic multimedia products. UWB complements other longer-range radio technologies such as Wi-Fi or WiMAX. It is used to relay data from a host device to other devices in the immediate area (up to 10 meters), e.g. from a laptop or a digital camera to a large screen display and speakers.
ZigBee is a low data rates and low power consumption radio transmission technology that is intended to be simpler and cheaper than Bluetooth and it is used in embedded applications requiring . ZigBee’s focus is to define a general-purpose, inexpensive, self-organizing, mesh network that can be used for industrial control, building automation, home automation, etc
Power line communication describes several different systems that allow simultaneous distribution of data over power wires. One such system is the use of home electrical wiring for remote control of lighting and appliances, using the X10 industry standard or the compatible Insteon (see below). Another is using power-line in order to provide broadband internet access. There are also prototypes of in-vehicle networks to transmit data, voice, music, or video over the direct current (DC) battery power-line.
Insteon is an integrated dual-band mesh network that combines wireless radio frequency with the home’s existing electrical wiring.
Mesh networking is a way to route data, voice and instructions between nodes: the infrastructure is decentralized and each node needs only to transmit as far as the next node. It allows for continuous connections and reconfiguration (or “self-healing”): when a node breaks down or a connection goes bad, the networks tries to “hop” from node to node until a connection can be reestablished. As a result, these types of networks are very reliable. Mesh networking can be applied to wireless or fixed networks.
Near Field Communication mai 19, 2006
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Near Field Communication (NFC) is a standard developed by Sony, Philips, and later on Nokia, to establish a communication between computers, PDAs, mobile, or even TVs. The communication can also be based on wireless protocols, such as Bluetooth or WiFi. If users want to secure Bluetooth or WiFi communications, they have to manually enter passwords and other parameters for the connection. With NFC, where communication is only possible at a distance of a few centimetres (maximum 20 cm), it is simple and intuitive to control communication (like a handshake).
NFC can be established in active mode, where both devices generate their own radio frequency field to carry the data, or in passive mode where only one device generates the radio frequency and the passive element's information is only read if the active device is close enough to supply a power source by radio waves.
Payments are one rather obvious potential use for the technology, but NFC could also be used to access public transportation, to provide electronic keys, or to swap digital music, photos or other files between devices. In Japan, FeliCa (a technology similar to NFC) is already used in real-life applications, but not in the USA and in Europe, where it is still in its infancy. In December 2005 VISA started a mobile payment pilot program in Atlanta and France Telecom/Orange is making experiments in Caen since October 2005: users can pay in selected malls, open car park barriers, and download information (movie trailers, exhibitions, bus or tram timetables).
Skype mai 17, 2006
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Skype is a peer-to-peer Voice-over-IP (VoIP) network, allowing its users to call other Skype users for free. Skype also provides paying services allowing users to call traditional telephone numbers (SkypeOut, free in North America) and receive calls from traditional phones (SkypeIn). Skype develops additional services such as video calling and Skypecast (released on May 3, 2006), live and moderated conversations allowing groups of up to 100 people to talk to one another with a virtual microphone being passed around. Skype was bought by eBay in October 2005.
Skype is very popular: the software has been downloaded some 250 million times and it was reported that six million concurrent Skype users were on line as of March 27, 2006. Skype hit 100 million registered Skype Names on April 27, 2006.
There is however criticism against Skype and some large organisations banned it from their networks:
- Skype is a proprietary software program using undocumented protocols ("blackbox"), as opposed to VoIP applications that use standard and open VoIP protocols.
- Skype is a peer-to-peer network over client machines, with clients on fast connections becoming major exchange points; according to Computerworld, “in supernode mode, Skype is reputedly able to saturate 100 Mbit/second connections.”
- It bypasses firewalls and there is no control over information flows; although it has never happened, it could potentially be used to hack corporate networks.
Other large corporations use it: USRobotics’ customers can call Customer Support via Skype and Info-Tech reports that 17 million Skypers worldwide use it for business.
Skype has a headstart on the VoIP market, but strong competition is awaiting: Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Microsoft Live Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger all offer (or will offer) similar telephony functions.
Interactive TV mai 15, 2006
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Interactive TV allows the viewer to interact with the television: selecting a film, playing games, voting or providing other immediate feedback, banking, shopping, etc.
Interactive TV can be delivered over satellite or cable, if the cable infrastructure is upgraded to provide two-way capability, but also by using the Internet Protocol over a broadband connection (IPTV). IPTV requires either a personal computer or a "set-top box" connected to a TV. Advantages of IPTV include two-way capability, as well as point-to-point distribution allowing each viewer to view individual broadcasts with stream control (pause, wind/rewind). However the deployment of IPTV is complex and expensive: SBC is spending over $6 billion on Project LightSpeed to bring TV over next generation DSL connections and Swisscom postponed the launch of Bluewin television based on Microsoft IPTV "until some time in 2006" (the project started in 2004).
Some have high expectations for advertising over interactive TV: the author of Adressable IPTV Advertising believes that "highly targeted and addressable advertising offers the potential to increase advertising revenue per viewer by a factor of over 20 times while the viewer experience becomes more personalized and well received"; this analysis says that there is a "probable" $15B market for targeted television advertising by 2010.
On the other hand it is also seen as a threat to "classical" advertising on TV: a survey showed that almost 70 percent of advertisers say they believe that DVRs and video on demand will reduce or destroy the effectiveness of traditional 30-second commercials. Digital video recorders (DVR or PVR, personal video recorders) capture and store video to a hard disk for later viewing, and users can control the video stream: pausing live TV, instant replay of scenes, and skipping advertising. TiVo, a popular brand of DVR, reports that its users skip 70% of commercials. Jupiter Research estimates that ad-skipping could cost up to $8 B in TV revenue.
TV corporations and advertisers explore new solutions. In May 2006 CBS launched a new ad-supported broadband channel called "innertube" that will include specially created Web series and some material that has already run on CBS. Users can see these shows for free but they have to watch the commercials. CBS ondemand lets users download shows (starting at $1), which they have 24 hours to watch before they expire. TiVo has a targeted commercials service that lets the viewer choose the products or services that he is interested in and that automatically finds and delivers relevant video clips ranging from one minute to 60 minutes, from more than 70 advertisers and 100 leading brands: Kraft offers 20 different cooking videos and General Motors has detailed presentations of its vehicles.
Smart appliances mai 11, 2006
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Smart appliances (or Net/Web/information appliances) are machines which accomplish domestic tasks, such as cooking, food preservation or cleaning, and which are connected to the Web.
Although the LG Digital Fridge or the Electrolux Screenfridge were much talked about when they came on the market (2002-2003), they are not sold anymore. It seems that as yet consumers do not want Internet access or automatic stock management with their fridge, such as this column or that article suggest. On the other hand, the outcome of this real-world test of a connected kitchen solution was that half of the participants would “definitely consider” purchasing something like the proposed solution if cost was not an issue (reminder: the LG Digital Fridge was priced at around $ 8'000).
Although they are not successful so far, new smart appliances still appear on the market: the Samsung Smart Zipel, a fridge with a Tablet PC, TMIO's refrigerated oven controlled by Internet or phone, the connected Microwave, Coffee maker and bread maker by Salton, and so on. Under the label of "Feminity" and in Japan only, Toshiba commercializes a series of connected appliances which support recipe transfer and food management amongst other tasks (laundry, heating/cooling, lighting).
