A new study from Allied Business Intelligence says wireless networks of all types, including WLAN, Bluetooth, UWB and RFID, will slowly but surely permeate our entire society.
Wireless networks of varying types, capabilities and ranges are today slowly pervading society. Advanced 2.5G and 3G cellular networks are only the beginning as other technologies, including wireless local area networks (WLAN), Bluetooth, radio frequency identification (RFID) and even ultra wideband (UWB) networks are deployed, claims a new study from Allied Business Intelligence (ABI) - which goes as far as saying our entire society will be permeated by wireless technologies of one kind or another.
Wireless technologies, nearly ubiquitous for voice communications, will begin to penetrate new applications and platforms, including industrial management and transportation. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), for example, is now poised to revolutionize supply chain management through its ability to remotely identify crates, boxes and even individual items through "smart-labels." ABI research indicates that these applications represent merely 1% of total RFID transponder shipments today, increasing to represent about 46% of all shipments by 2007.
Even the family car will be wirelessly enabled. "By 2007, Bluetooth and WLAN nodes will be common features for the automotive platform. Initially geared towards telephony applications, Bluetooth nodes will soon serve additional functions, including remote vehicle diagnostics," according to Frank Viquez, Director of Automotive Technologies at ABI. The industry research firm expects 19% of all vehicles to become equipped with Bluetooth by 2007.
Much of the information collected by these so-called personal area networks (PAN) will still rely upon the widely available cellular networks. "The 2.5G and 3G networks will bridge the gap between the localized PAN and the broader Internet. All of these wireless technologies will be codependent upon each other," says Edward Rerisi, Director of Wireless Research at ABI. "In a sense, these various network configurations will feed demand for the other segments," adds Mr. Rerisi.
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