Wireless Network Applications
Wireless networks support many applications that benefit from
user mobility and higher reliability because of less error-prone cabling.
Furthermore, many wireless network applications realize significant cost savings
because of increases in efficiencies and less downtime as compared to a wired
network. Most wireless network technologies are license free, making them simple
and cost effective to deploy.
Basic Configurations
In most cases, the wireless network is merely an extension of
an existing wired network. In this case, a user is able to perform a particular
task at an optimum location instead of somewhere that is less than ideal. A
clerk unloading a truck, for example, can use a wireless handheld unit to scan
items that the clerk removes from the truck. This is much more effective than
writing down the item numbers and later entering them at a desktop terminal
located somewhere inside the facility and far away from the loading dock.
Other situations involve dedicated wireless networks, which
completely eliminate the need for wiring. For example, an emergency team
responding to an airplane crash scene can quickly establish a temporary wireless
network within the immediate area of the crash. All computer devices communicate
directly with each other. This makes it possible for team members to have
centralized access to important data concerning the crash.
Applications of wireless networks also fall within private or
public scenarios. A company or homeowner that purchases and installs a wireless
network for its own use is enabling a private application. Usually, private
applications are made only available for company employees or home occupants.
Access to the applications is not made available to the general public. In fact,
companies generally implement security safeguards to ensure that only authorized
people can connect to the network and access services.
Public applications, on the other hand, provide open access to
anyone. A business traveler, for example, can use a public wireless LAN at an
airport to access the Internet while waiting for a flight. These public hotspots
are becoming widely available in airports and other areas, such as hotels,
convention centers, and coffee shops where there are large concentrations of
people toting computer devices.
Internet Access
One of the most compelling reasons to install a wireless
network is to enable the sharing of a single high-speed Internet connection.
With this type of configuration, every member of a family or small business can
easily share a single high-speed connection that a cable or DSL modem offers.
This is convenient and saves money because everybody can simultaneously have
access to the Internet and roam anywhere in the house or office.
The wireless network in this scenario also increases the
flexibility of the network because it's easy to add new workstations at any time
without having to run cable. The relocation of wireless PCs, along with any
printers and servers, is also painless.
A company can implement a wireless network to allow visiting
employees and guests with wireless computer devices to quickly connect to the
network with little configuration. The ability to use the Internet while away
from the home location can greatly enhance productivity. The visitor can just
turn on their laptop and have instant access to e-mail and applications.
Voice over Wireless
The use of wireless networks to support the transmission of
voice conversations is a beneficial solution when people need to constantly stay
in contact with each other. In fact, a wireless LAN designed to support voice
communications can completely replace a traditional wire-based telephone system
within a particular facility. (See Figure
1-5.) The combination of voice and data over the same wireless network
provides total mobility and lower operating costs.
For example, employees within a retail store can locate certain
clothes for a customer or check inventory by using special wireless LAN phones.
The wireless LAN in the retail store can also support the transmission of bar
codes when performing inventory or pricing using a wireless, handheld bar code
scanner. Cost savings result because the company needs only to install and
support a single communications system that carries both voice and data.
Likewise, a business can deploy their entire telephone system
over a wireless LAN. This enables employees to carry their phone with them at
all times, similar to a standard cell phone. Employees can accept calls within
the facility at any time using a single phone.
Inventory Control
Many businesses profit from using wireless LANs when managing
their manufacturing processes. This lowers operating costs. Because the
connections between the manufacturing equipment and main control systems are
wireless, the company can reconfigure the assembly process at any time from
anywhere, saving time and money.
Through the use of a wireless LAN, a company can track and
update inventory in real time, enabling efficiency and accuracy to increase
dramatically. In a retail environment, as soon as a clerk purchases or stocks a
product, a wireless management solution can update the inventory. In a
manufacturing setting, the company can keep the raw materials and finished
product statistics up-to-date. Employees equipped with wireless-enabled bar code
scanners can check or change product prices or check the number in stock.
The improved accuracy provided by using a wireless LAN to
manage inventory creates a chain reaction of benefits. Because the clerks enter
the information directly into the main computer through handheld scanners, there
is no paperwork to deal with. This significantly reduces human error when
entering data, which leads to accurate financial records. This is important to
manufacturing companies because accurate financial records ensure correct taxes
are paid and fines (and possible law suits) are kept to a minimum.
Health Care
More and more hospitals are deploying wireless networks to
improve operational efficiency and convenience. In most cases, hospitals deploy
wireless LANs in high patient-traffic areas including emergency rooms, critical
care wards, nursing stations, as well as in doctor's offices and patient waiting
areas. Hospital staff can use mobile computer devices to increase efficiency and
accuracy when caring for patients.
Health-care centers must maintain accurate records to ensure
quality patient care. A simple mistake can cost someone's life. As a result,
doctors and nurses must carefully record test results, physical data,
pharmaceutical orders, and surgical procedures. This paperwork often overwhelms
health-care staff, taking 50-70 percent of their time. The use of a mobile data
collection device that wirelessly transmits the data to a centralized database
significantly increases accuracy and raises the visibility of the data to those
who need the information.
Doctors and nurses are also extremely mobile, going from room
to room caring for patients. The use of electronic patient records, with the
ability to input, view, and update patient data from anywhere in the hospital,
increases the accuracy and speed of health care. This improvement is possible by
providing each nurse and doctor with a wireless pen-based computer, such as a
tablet or PDA, coupled with a wireless network to databases that store critical
medical information about the patients.
A doctor caring for someone in the hospital, for example, can
place an order for a blood test by keying the request into a handheld computer.
The laboratory receives the order electronically and dispatches a lab technician
to draw blood from the patient. The laboratory runs the tests requested by the
doctor and enter the results into the patient's electronic medical record. The
doctor can then check the results via the handheld appliance from anywhere in
the hospital.
Another hospital application is tracking of pharmaceuticals.
The use of mobile handheld bar code printing and scanning devices dramatically
increases the efficiency and accuracy of all drug transactions, such as
receiving, picking, dispensing, inventory, and expiration dates. Most
importantly, however, it ensures that hospital staff can administer the right
drug to the right person in a timely fashion.
Education
Many colleges and elementary schools are finding beneficial
reasons to install wireless LANs, mostly to provide mobile network applications
to their students. In fact, schools have begun using the existence of wireless
LAN access as a competitive advantage. These schools are targeting the growing
number of students with laptops and expectations of accessing the Internet and
school resources from anywhere on campus, such as classrooms, libraries, quads,
and dormitories. Students are able to readily check e-mail, surf the Web, access
specialized school applications, check grades, and view transcripts. As a
result, students make better use of their time.
It's expensive to establish and maintain computer labs for
students to utilize for accessing the Internet and completing assignments.
Students must often wait in line for using a computer in a lab, which cuts into
other activities. A wireless LAN, however, gives students access to needed
resources using their own laptop from anywhere on campus at any time, even after
the traditional computer lab closes. This more evenly distributes network access
to all students, enhancing student efficiency. Of course, the school can also
save the costs of running the computer lab.
Real Estate
Real estate salespeople perform a great deal of their work away
from the office, usually talking with customers at the property being sold or
rented. Before leaving the office, salespeople normally identify a few sites to
show a customer, print the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) information that
describes the property, and then drive to each location with the potential
buyer. If the customer is unhappy with that round of sites, the real estate
agent must drive back to the office and run more listings. Even if the customer
decides to purchase the property, they must both go back to the real estate
office to finish paperwork that completes the sale.
Wireless networking makes the sale of real estate much more
efficient. The real estate agent can use a computer away from the office to
access a wireless MLS record. An agent can also use a portable computer and
printer to produce contracts and loan applications for signing at the point of
sale.
Utilities
Utility companies operate and maintain a highly distributed
system that delivers power and natural gas to industries and residences. Utility
companies must continually monitor the operation of the electrical distribution
system, gas lines, and water consumption, and must check usage meters at least
monthly to calculate bills. Traditionally, this means a person must travel from
location to location, visit residences and company facilities, record
information, and then enter the data at a service or computing center.
Today, utility companies employ wireless WANs to support the
automation of meter reading and system monitoring. Instead of a meter reader
recording the data on a sheet of paper to later enter in a computer for
processing, the meter can periodically transmit the data through the wireless
WAN to the utility company. This saves time and reduces overhead costs by
eliminating the need for human meter readers.
Field Service
Field service personnel spend most of their time on the road
installing and maintaining systems or inspecting facilities under construction.
To complete their jobs, these individuals need access to product documentation
and procedures. Traditionally, field service employees have had to carry several
binders of documentation with them to sites that often lacked a phone and even
electricity.
In some cases, the field person might not be able to take all
the documents to a job site, causing delay while obtaining the proper
information. On long trips, this information might also become outdated. Updates
require delivery that might take days to reach the person in the field. Wireless
WAN access to documentation can definitely enhance field service. A field
service employee, for example, can carry a portable computer that connects to
the office LAN that contains accurate documentation of all applicable
information.
Field Sales
Sales professionals are always on the move and meeting with
customers. While on site with a customer, a salesperson needs access to vast
information that describes products and services. Salespeople must also place
orders, provide status—such as meeting schedules—to the home office, and
maintain inventories.
With wireless access to the main office network, a salesperson
can view centralized contact information, retrieve product information, produce
proposals, create contracts, and stay in touch with office staff and other
salespeople. This contact permits salespeople to complete the entire sale
directly from the customer site, which increases the potential for a successful
sale and shortens the sales cycle.
Vending
Beverage and snack companies place vending machines in hotels,
airports, and office buildings to enhance the sales of their products. Vending
machines eliminate the need for a human salesclerk. These companies, however,
must send employees around to stock the machines periodically. In some cases,
machines might become empty before the restocking occurs because the company has
no way of knowing when the machine runs out of a particular product.
A wireless WAN can support the monitoring of stock levels by
transporting applicable data from each of the vending machines to a central
database that can be easily viewed by company personnel from a single location.
Such monitoring allows companies to be proactive in stocking their machines,
because they always know the stock levels at each machine. This enables the
vending company to schedule appropriate stops for people who refill the
machines.
Public Networks
Because of the significant proliferation of laptops, PDAs, and
cell phones, a growing need exists for mobile interfaces to the Internet and
corporate applications. Users want and expect seamless, constant mobile
connectivity to all information sources with high levels of performance and
availability. Wireless networks provide the infrastructure to support these
needs in public areas that are away from the home or office.
A public wireless network offers a means for people on the go
to connect with the Internet. In general, the places that have large groups of
people that need or want network connections have wireless LAN access. Wireless
MANs and WANs, on the other hand, provide coverage over larger areas having
sparsely distributed populations.
Public wireless LANs are in common places such as hotels and
restaurants, but all kinds of places are installing wireless LANs for public
access. For example, approximately 90 percent of all boaters use the Internet
regularly while at home or in the office. Many still want access to the Internet
while relaxing on their boats, especially when parked overnight at a marina. As
a result, marinas around the globe are installing wireless LANs to enable
boaters to have access to Internet applications.
To use a public wireless LAN, users must have a computer
device, such as a laptop, with a wireless LAN NIC. IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi) is the
most common type of wireless LAN today that public wireless network providers
install. The computer device's NIC automatically senses the presence of the
wireless LAN and associates with the network. Before accessing the Internet, the
user must subscribe to the service, generally through a website accessible from
the wireless LAN. Some public wireless LANs are free, but most providers charge
a nominal price for using the service.
Another form of public wireless network uses wireless MAN
technologies to provide wireless communications links between subscribers (homes
and offices) and the Internet. The provider mounts a small antenna dish on the
home or small office and points it to a centralized hub. This
point-to-multipoint system provides the last-mile connection necessary to supply
Internet access to locations where DSL and cable modem connections are not
available or feasible.
Location-Based Services
With wireless networks, you can make the location of a
particular person or item available to a central location. The ability to track
the position of moving objects brings about some interesting applications. The
coordinates of users can feed into a server-based application that implements a
location-based service.
For example, a public wireless LAN provider can use this
concept to display pertinent information to travelers as they walk through an
airport or train station. Information might include their location on a moving
map, in a way that the passenger can use to find the way to the next departure
gate or the nearest restaurant. The value of this location-based service could
entice passengers to use the particular venue.
A hospital might use location-based
services to track the positions of doctors and nurses. This enables
hospital administrators to dispatch the right person to an emergency. Patients
end up receiving more rapid and effective care.
The usage of location-aware systems over wireless LANs is also
moving to the consumer market. For example, the ability to track children is
extremely valuable. Imagine being in a theme park and a toddler wandering off
without the knowledge of the parent. With a location system, the parent can
easily find the toddler among a large crowd. With a concealed wireless tracking
tag located on the child, this type of system can aid tremendously if someone
kidnaps a child.
A shopping mall might deploy a location system and send
electronic flyers and advertisements to customers carrying PDAs. The system
takes into consideration the physical location of shoppers within the facility
and customizes actual content appropriately. Shoppers then make better use of
their time, and stores make more money.
Users in this example might receive an electronic directory and
advertisement flyer on their wireless PDA after entering the mall. The directory
includes a map of the facility that identifies the person's exact position. As
the shopper clicks on a store, restroom, or ATM in the directory, the map
indicates directions that take them to the desired selection. If a spouse or
shopping friend is carrying a wireless device, everyone can keep track of each
other's location as well. | 
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