Midterm Exam

By: Matt DiGioia, Melissa Harrigan and Lauren Mayock

 

 

 

 

Bluetooth 1.1 (Lauren):

    Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs). Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices such as mobile phones,laptops, PCs, printers, digital cameras, and video game consoles over a secure, globally unlicensed short-range radio frequency.  The Bluetooth specifications are developed and licensed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group.

In 1998, Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Toshiba, and Nokia, formed a consortium and adopted the code name Bluetooth for their proposed open specification. In December 1999, 3Com, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, and Motorola joined the initial founders as the promoter of Bluetooth Special Interest Group.  Some devices that connect with it are: mobile phones, GPS receivers, Nintendo Wii, and Sony Playstation3. 1.1 added support for non-encrypted channels.  Received Signal Strength Indicator is also another feature of 1.1.  It also fixed many errors that were found in 1.0B specifications. 

  (Board for iBook G4 & Aluminum PowerBook G4)

Source Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth

 

Bluetooth 2.0 (Lauren):

     Bluetooth 2.0 was specified on November 10, 2004.  It is backward compatible with 1.1.  It also introduced an Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)  of 3.0 Mbit/s.  It has a three times faster transmission speed—up to 10 times in certain cases, a lower power consumption through a reduced duty cycle, and a simplification of multi-link scenarios due to more available bandwidth.  In many cases it is not clear whether a product claiming to support "Bluetooth 2.0" actually supports the EDR higher transfer rate. It has the same uses and inventors as Bluetooth 1.1.

  (USB Adapter)

Source Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth

 

 

 

FireWire 400 (Melissa):

 

General Description:

    The more technical name for the FireWire 400 interface is the IEEE 1394 interface.  This interface is often used with audio and visual electronic devices such as digital cameras and digital camcorders.   FireWire 400 can transfer data between devices at a data rate of up to 400 Mbits/second.  The FireWire 400 comes as either a 4-Pin or 6-Pin connector. The 6-Pin connector is often used on desktop computers while the 4-Pin connector is used on laptops.

 

Function of the Device:

    The main function of this interface is to allow the consumer to connect their digital camera to their PC.

 

Who Invented it and When:

     Apple was the first to design the FireWire 400 interface in 1990. 

 

Uses:

    This interface provides a high speed data rate to allow the user to transfer data from their electronic devices at a fast rate to their computer.

 

Devices that Connect to it:

     Some devices that use the FireWire 400 interface include digital cameras, digital camcorders, and iPods.

 

 Source Info:

     "FireWire"  Wikipedia Online.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire. 

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FireWire 800 (Melissa):

 

General Description:

    The more technical name for the FireWire 800 interface is the IEEE 1394b interface.  Similar to the FireWire 400 interface, the FireWire 800 interface is often used with audio and visual electronic devices such as digital cameras and digital camcorders.   FireWire 800 can transfer data between devices at a data rate of up to 800 Mbits/second.  The FireWire 800 comes as 9-Pin, which allows for a faster transfer of data.  Adaptors are needed to in order to connect a FireWire 800 connector to a FireWire 400 port, seeing that the FireWire 800 interface has more pin connectors.  Additionally, this new technology by Apple has created a much fast transfer of data than the traditional USB 2.0 cable.

 

Function of the Device:

 The main function of this interface is to allow the consumer to connect their electronic devices to their PC.

 

Who Invented it and When:

     Apple was the first to design the FireWire 800 interface in 2002. 

 

Uses:

    FireWire 800 provides the consumer with a faster transfer of data, when compared to the FireWire 400 interface, of their digital devices to their PC. 

 

Devices that Connect to it:

     Some devices that use the FireWire 800 interface include digital cameras, digital camcorders, portable external disk drives, and MP3 players, such as the iPod.

 

 Source Info:

     "FireWire"  Wikipedia Online.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire. 

    "FireWire 800". Apple Online. http://www.apple.bg/bul/High/apple/hardware/firewire/105/FireWire_Tech_Brief-a.pdf 

 

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 Comparison Chart of the FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 Interfaces:

 

 

 

Ethernet (Matt):

 

General Description: 

    Ethernet is a family of frame-based computer networking technologies for local area networks  It defines a number of wiring and signaling standards for the physical layer, though means of network access at the "Media Access Control/Data Link Layer,"  and a common addressing format. The name comes from the physical concept of "ether."

 

Function of the Device and Uses:

    Ethernet was originally based on the idea of computers communicating over a shared coaxial cable acting as a broadcast transmission medium. The methods used to show some similarities to radio systems. The common cable providing the communication channel was likened to the ether and it was from this reference that the name "Ethernet" was derived.

 

Who Invented It and When:

     Ethernet was originally developed at Xerox in 1973. Robert and David Boggs wrote and presented their "Draft Ethernet Overview" before March 1974.  The original design was thought to be a failure, as R.Z. Bachrach sent a memo to the two stating that "their technology is nothing new and the analysis would show that the system would be a failure."

 

Devices that Connect to It:

      Ethernet is standardized as IEEE 802.3. The combination of the twisted pair versions of Ethernet for connecting end systems to the network, along with the fiber optic versions for site backbones, is the most widespread wired LAN technology. It has been in use from the 1990s to the present, largely replacing competing LAN standards such as token ring, FDDI, and ARCNET. In recent years, Wi-Fi, the wireless LAN standardized by IEEE 802.11, is prevalent in home and small office networks and augmenting Ethernet in larger installations

 

Source Info:

 

"Ethernet" Wikipedia Online. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet

 

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Zigbee (Matt)

General Description:

     ZigBee is the name of a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard for wireless personal area networks (WPANs), such as wireless headphones connecting with cell phones via short-range radio. The technology is intended to be simpler and cheaper than other WPANs, such as Bluetooth. ZigBee is targeted at radio-frequency (RF) applications which require a low data rate, long battery life, and secure networking.

 

Function of the Device and Uses:

      ZigBee protocols are intended for use in embedded applications requiring low data rates and low power consumption. ZigBee's current focus is to define a general-purpose, inexpensive, self-organizing, mesh network that can be used for industrial control, embedded sensing, medical data collection, smoke and intruder warning, building automation, home automation, etc. The resulting network will use very small amounts of power so individual devices might run for a year or two using the originally installed battery.

 

Who Invented it and When:

      ZigBee-style networks began to be conceived about 1998, when many installers realized that both WiFi and Bluetooth were going to be unsuitable for many applications. In particular, many engineers saw a need for self-organizing ad-hoc digital radio networks. In the summer of 2003, Philips Semiconductors, a major mesh network supporter, ceased its investment. Philips Lighting has, however, continued Philips' participation, and Philips remains a promoter member on the ZigBee Alliance Board of Directors.

 

Source Info:

 

"Zigbee" Wikipedia Online.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigBee

 

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