Volume 4. No 6
Information Technology News of the University of California, Davis March 1996
Information Technology News of the University of California, Davis March 1996
Thanks to advances in wireless technology, truly mobile computing is just around the corner for many users. Simply speaking, some laptop computer users are enjoying the same connectivity now enjoyed by those who use cellular telephones, and this convenience may come into the reach of many more in the next year or so.
In the traditional computing environment, computers are networked with either direct wire or through the telephone lines with modems. Information can be transmitted only between computers physically connected to the network.
As its name implies, wireless networking will allow users to transmit information through mediums that do not require physical connections. So, theoretically speaking, you could send e-mail from a chair lift in a snowstorm or from a sandy beach on a tropical island.
Existing wireless communications include radio and television broadcasting, cellular telephony, microwave, and satellite services. Wireless technologies have not yet evolved sufficiently enough to serve as replacements to traditional wire-based computer networks. Nonetheless, wireless technologies do provide promising - yet expensive - solutions in certain niches or gaps not well-served by wire.
With the development of wireless applications, the technology infrastructure will likely evolve into a seamless blend of computing and networking services that involves wireless systems, notebook (laptop) computers, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's). Most likely, the "blended" infrastructure will allow you to choose whether or not to plug into a network based on your physical location. You could, for instance, use a Wide Area Network wireless connection to communicate when in the field and then, from your office, plug into the campus network using more conventional wire-based networking means.
As part of the research being carried out for two community projects - the Davis Community Network and Magic WAND (Wide Area Network Davis) - Information Technology has been evaluating wireless technologies for use both on- and off-campus. The research results are found in a feasibility report available on the World Wide Web (http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/DCN/Research/), and the feasibility of those findings will be tested in a pilot project that will help the campus plan for the use of wireless technologies.
The pilot project will focus on how wireless technologies apply to the "mobile worker" and the "office of the future." As part of the pilot, Information Technology will develop a demonstration of the faculty office of the future for Odyssey '96, the campus technology showcase scheduled in May. Other demonstrations will focus on how wireless portable docking, wireless LANs, and wireless building-wide networks (e.g., the library), can be utilized by the campus community.
The information gathered during the pilot project will form the basis of a report that will discuss the far-reaching issues surrounding the use of wireless technology - acquisition, installation, configuration, performance, flexibility, and scalability, to name a few.
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