Recent advances in wireless networking

Wireless technology is growing at a breath taking pace and is influencing the way people live and interact. A wireless system enables users to go anywhere, still be connected to both voice and data communications and have access to systems with different levels of complexity ranging from voice communications to database retrieval. The satellite based global positioning capability has added another dimension to the usefulness of the system. Handling of voice information has achieved some degree of maturity while data communication is just picking up the steam. In this presentation, we describe state-of-the-art of the wireless and mobile networking area and illustrate their applications in diverse areas like travel, education, stock trading, military, package delivery, disaster recovery and medical emergency care. Most of the data applications can be categorized as wireless/mobile access to internet, wireless/mobile access to intranet and wireless LAN/ad-hoc access between mobile systems. The persuasiveness of mobile computing is being felt not only by business, but also by households and Bluetooth Technology is allowing different devices like laptops, mobile phones, pagers, and other household devices to communicate with each other without the use of cables. The future of mobile computing seems to be very promising and anywhere, anytime any device access to information is expected to be a reality. We also look at the challenges faced by the wireless technology.