Mobile Communication Technology

Mobile communication technology is a term that is basically given to the technology used as the communication mode for the portable devices such as cellular phones, laptops, palmtops, digital assistants, global positioning systems, wireless card payment systems etc.

There are many technologies that are used in communication of these devices such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), GSM services (2G and 3G), GPRS, Bluetooth, Virtual Private Networks, dial up modems etc. Using these technologies, one can easily communicate from office, home, car and even while traveling. Using the web or WAP services to access internet either on phone or laptops is known as mobile computing which is also considered as a part of mobile communication technology.

Some of the foremost technologies that are used in the field of Mobile Communication can be listed as:

1. GPRS: General Packet Radio System is a mobile technology that uses GSM services for data communication. It is mainly used for providing the data services on cellular devices. One of the drawback of GPRS service was its slow connectivity, but with the coming up of 3rd Generation of GSM, the speed limit has been increased and the data transmission has become quite fast. GPRS holds a unique feature by which a user can very easily transmit the data while making calls.

2. EDGE: Enhanced data rates for GSM Evolution or EGPRS is a technology having the faster data transmission rate as compared to GPRS. If the EDGE network is not available in some places, then there GPRS service is used as a replacement of EDGE.

3. Wi-Fi: Wireless fidelity is the technology that uses wireless technology communication for the data transmission; previously Wi-Fi was only used with laptops and palmtops but now-a-days it is also used with modern cellular phones that have Wi-Fi services. The benefit of using Wi-Fi technology is transmission speed as it can support up-to 100 Mbps.

4. Bluetooth: Bluetooth is a technology that is used for the transmission of data between devices in a small range of 100 meter. The network formed from by Bluetooth devices is known as Piconet. The Bluetooth technology can be used to create connections between multiple devices resulting in machine to machine communication. At one time, seven devices can communicate via Bluetooth.

5. GSM: Global System for Mobile communications is a technology used for digital cellular networks used for second generation technology but later it is succeeded by 3G to increase the speed of circuit switched network. GSM network works on different frequencies for 2G and 3G.

• 2G GSM network operate in 850 Mhz or 1900 Mhz frequencies.
• 3G GSM network operate in 2100Mhz frequency

Key features of 3G are video calling, video download, transfer the large amount of data at a very high speed.

Apart from these, there are many other technologies such as VPN which is used to access external networks by a secured channel.

The benefit of mobile technologies is that it makes our life very easy as we can access data resources and services from any part of the world. But at the same time, it faces certain problems as well such as network problems, security issues and cost of data services. But with advance in technology, these problems are gradually decreasing and mobile communication technology is making our life very easy

Christa Joe is the author of this article. She has been demonstrating her writing skills by writing the articles for mobile software development companies like Q3 technologies from last two years. She is also used to write good articles for custom application development.

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How Does a Wireless Access Point Work?

Wireless networks have been available for quite a number of years now, and prior to their introduction the only option available for Local Area Networks was through the use of copper, twisted pair cabling. A Wireless Access Point is used in a Wi-Fi network as a central hub, to allow wireless client devices to connect through to a wired network. The WAP authenticates wireless clients and then relays data between other wireless clients and also devices on the wired network. A Wireless Access Point will often be connected through a router or switch to make the connection or interface with the wired network.

Wi-Fi networks support the IEEE 802.11 standard for passing data traffic using radio frequencies as the physical medium, within allotted frequency bands. Such networks are often referred to as a WLAN, which stands for Wireless LAN because of the localized area in which the wireless network operates. Some WLANs can operate without the need to use a WAP in a peer-to-peer configuration which is termed an "ad hoc" network, but these are inefficient and problematic.

Some of the early Wireless Access Points only supported a few clients (typically 10-30), but most modern WAPs support up to 254 wireless clients using a whole Class C network range or sub network of a larger Class A or Class B range. Most Broadband routers and gateways designed for the home user now have wireless as an option to wired connection. These routers effectively have a built-in wireless access point and DHCP Server for automatic allocation of IP Addresses. The SSID (Service Set Identifier) is normally configurable and is used to identify your wireless network from other networks in range. Most wireless clients in Desktop or Notebook computers will often use Microsoft's Wireless Zero Configuration to find all available wireless networks and allow a user to connect to a preferred Wi-Fi network.

In a corporate environment, several Wireless Access Points may be used to allow hundreds or thousands of clients to connect to the corporate network through the wireless environment. Each WAP will need a wired connection to the LAN and WAPs are normally positioned so as the wireless signals overlap, allowing clients to have mobility and roam between different Access Points. To ensure full coverage within a large area, a wireless site survey will need to be conducted to ensure each WAP is positioned in an optimum location to ensure total coverage. You can look at it a bit like the Cellular system used within our mobile phone networks.

Whether you are setting up a WAP for a home network or corporate network then security should be a big consideration. Wireless networks work by sharing the frequency space amongst all clients in a similar fashion to a wired LAN. Instead of using CSMA/CD, WLANs use CSMA/CA (Carrier Sensed Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance. The fact that it is a shared environment and that the radio signals are propagated within an area means that any wireless client within range can detect and connect to that network. A number of security standards have been developed for use with Wireless Networks and WAPs over recent years.

Authentication and Encryption are the key to securing a WLAN via a Wireless Access Point. One of the first standards was known as WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) which used either a 64-bit or 128-bit encryption key and provided limited security. This was often sufficient for most home WLANs but certainly not strong enough for the corporate environment. Along came WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and then WPA2 which used much stronger encryption algorithms and IEEE 802.11i specifies the use of WPA2.

If you are setting up a Wireless Access Point to create a home network, or using a Wireless Router with built in WAP, then configure a unique SSID that will identify your network and check which security standards are supported and select the most secure. For example, if your device supports WEP 64-bit, WEP 128-bit WPA and WPA2 or WPA with PSK then implement WPA2.

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Why LEDs Are Becoming the Lighting of Choice for Boaters

Ask any group of boaters what their biggest gripe with their boat is, and it's a safe bet that the cost of fuel and electricity use are close to the top of the list of complaints. It doesn't matter if you have a small sailboat of a large cruiser, you're going to need electricity, and the only way to get it is to generate it onboard yourself. This means boats must use generators, batteries, solar panels and wind generators that take up space, add weight, use fuel, or are simply unreliable. As more and more electronics make their way onboard our vessels, the need for power only grows. This growth in power demand tends to lead to boaters having to install more batteries, larger capacity generators, and burn more fuel to maintain energy reserves at a safe level. Worse, despite having all these new electronics onboard, more often than not they are used only sparingly as boaters find themselves having to literally ration that use of electrical power in order to maintain a practical balance between fuel consumption and time on the water.

One of the best additions to the boaters array of electrical devices, however, has the potential to have a direct and beneficial impact on all of this power management complexity and annoyance. Since boaters first began retrofitting LEDs into existing onboard light fixtures, the potential for LEDs to produce significant reductions in onboard power usage has been to overwhelming to ignore. Although LEDs were first installed by DIY'ers and were of dubious effectiveness, LEDs have quickly improved in output and light quality and now surpass most halogen and fluorescent marine lights in color quality, efficiency, longevity and light output. Even better, the small size of the LED and its ability to operate on direct current without any need for ballast or special transformers makes it an ideal lighting solution for the oftentimes space challenged confines of a boat.

With the growth in popularity of LEDs within boating circles, aftermarket manufacturers were quick to jump into the fray and begin offering LED lighting products capable of directly replacing the traditional incandescent fixtures on boats. Whether it's an entire fixture to be replaced, or simply a bulb, there are now likely several LED options available that will fit the bill. Easy to install, lasting for in some cases up to ten years, LEDs have certainly come into their own as far as the boating community is concerned. Sure there are holdouts, but more often than not, once they see for themselves just how effective the light output and energy savings from LEDs really is, they come down off the fence in short order.

LEDs are so much more efficient than incandescent bulbs because they produce light in a totally different way. Rather than heating a filament to produce light, which results in most of the electrical energy being wasted as heat, LEDs produce light through a process called electroluminescence. Rather than go into long and complicated explanations, suffice it to say that in an LED, electricity is fed to a specially coated type of semi-conducting material, which sort of rearranges the electrons and then emits them as photons, which is more commonly known as visible light. Since this process does not rely on electrical resistance to literally heat a filament until it is hot enough to emit light radiation and heat, it is much more efficient as little electrical energy is wasted. Instead, little energy is required to produce electroluminescence, and more of the energy is emitted as light. Even better, since the process only works one way in an LED, direct or DC current is the native type of power for an LED. This means no ballasts, inverters, or converters are needed to power an LED. In most cases, LED marine lights instead use solid state electronics to manage the flow of electricity to the LEDs. These electronics are known as LED drivers and are very compact and durable. LED drivers work to keep a steady current level going into the LED and allow a wide variety of voltages to be used, usually anywhere from 9 to 50 VDC. For boaters with 12 or 24VDC electrical systems, this means that hooking up LED lights can be as simple as screwing in a bulb or wiring in a light fixture.

Although the cost of an LED fixture is higher than an incandescent, the allure of the LED remains great due to their extreme efficiency and long life-span. If you consider that an average cruiser can use up to 70-100 amps just powering all of its lights, and that LEDs can cut that use by three quarters, it's clear there's a lot of savings in fuel use to be had. Additionally, when you realize that a typical halogen boat light rarely lasts more than a season or two, and that LEDs can last for up to ten years, the savings in bulb replacements alone can pay for the LED fixture in short order. Particularly with exterior illumination, like with spreader lights, LEDs quite simply make the halogens that came before them obsolete. Consider the Magnalight 40 Watt LED Light bar for instance. Compact, drawing only 40 watts, and using only 3 amps, this light produces 3,600 lumens. This is as much light as 4-5 50 watt halogen lamps that would normally need at least 12-16 amps to provide the same performance. Better, the LEDs are sealed, impervious to shattering, and produce very little heat. Add in that the LEDs will last for at least 40-50,000 hours or more as compared to the halogens 500-1500 hours, and you have what is commonly known as a no brainer decision.

Although LEDs remain a bit more expensive than incandescent bulbs, the savings in power and maintenance costs are simply too significant to make their initial cost a valid or prohibitive consideration. Long life, significant savings in energy and fuel consumption, and all around better lighting quality is making LEDs the new lighting of choice for boaters of all stripes regardless of whether they have a weekender or a long range full on cruiser.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6508160

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Enterprise Backup and Recovery

Backing up data and being able to recover it in an acceptable time frame are both crucial to planning your backup infrastructure.

Factors affecting a backup solution -

* DATA
* BACKUP SOFTWARE
* BACKUP SERVER
* INFRASTRUCTURE
* BACKUP TARGET
* BACKUP MEDIUMS

Do you want to be able to do a full backup, incremental or differential?

Backup is not really about backup, it is about restore! Backing data up is an insurance policy!

Understand the backup window and restore performance that you might need.

From autoloader to tape library's, VTL (Virtual tape library's) and beyond! There are many different options and lots of vendors, as is common these days where business IT is concerned.

There are many ways to skin a cat springs to mind!

There are uncertainties in the market where the term Autoloader and Library is actually concerned, and you should know that the Autoloader is being phased out and being changed for a more scalable device which starts with fewer drives but has room to add more.

If you are suffering from a lack of capacity, a lack of performance or both, or inadequate restore performance it is time to think about a new solution to provide a continuation of your "insurance policy".

There are lots of different players where backup solutions are concerned:-

Software to consider:

* SYMANTEC
* QUEST

Hardware To Consider:

* QUANTUM - Tape solutions, D2D, Encryption, advanced management and software suite.
* OVERLAND - NAS, Tape solutions.
* NETAPP - Multi protocol, Wealth of functionality - de-duplication, application aware snapshotting, replication, thin provisioning to name only a few!
* DELL EQUALLOGIC - Stable and popular appliance for SMB which is an iSCSI RAID system with replication and thin provisioning.
* DOTHILL - Kings of R & D, high capacity and high performance RAID systems with a great story to tell.

For a chat about your backup, restore and IT requirements please visit

A backup solution can be expensive but it is quite simple to work out exactly what specification will suit your needs by understanding what your recovery point objective is and what your recovery time objective is.

RTO - How long is acceptable for the recovery of a backup.

RPO - How old can the data be before the recovery time objective is no longer achievable.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6505902

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For health IT firms, regulatory questions abound

As Reston-based AFrame Digital looked to bring its wrist watch health monitor to market, the company thought it might be exempt from the Food and Drug Administration’s more arduous clearance process.

Still, chief executive Cindy Crump turned to the agency for guidance.
“The FDA came back to us with the determination that it is a change in fundamental technology for this type of device, so they said we would need to go through the . . . FDA clearance process,” she recalled.

AFrame Digital’s device was ultimately given the green light and the product has been sold to several assisted living and rehabilitation facilities. Many other companies also hope to capi­tal­ize on such trends in health technology.

But regulatory questions abound as companies and public agencies alike contend with the rising role that portable devices, Web-based computing and other fast-evolving technologies play in people’s care.

From smartphone applications that count calories to for-medical-use-only products like AFrame’s monitor, such devices have complexity and expectations that vary wildly. So where will regulators draw the line?

“In the near future, we plan to provide draft guidance for public comment prior to finalizing, which will provide clarity for manufacturers as they continue to develop innovative, health-related mobile apps,” an agency spokeswoman wrote in a statement.

“By providing predictable, flexible and sensible oversight of certain mobile medical technologies, FDA hopes to promote innovation, while protecting public health,” the statement said.

Bradley Thompson, an attorney at Epstein, Becker & Green, represents a group of corporations and nonprofits called the mHealth Regulatory Coalition. The group is asking the FDA to identify those products that are subject to regulation based on how they function, how they are marketed and how they interact with other health products.

“A lot of people who put money into this innovation say, ‘Look, I’ve got to know am I buying into a regulated article or am I not?’ because the pathways to market can be very different,” Thompson said last week at the Health IT Congressional Symposium, hosted by the TechAmerica Foundation.

Nevertheless, there is risk. Patients have to rely on health care software and devices to transmit information both accurately and securely so as not to compromise the quality or privacy of care.

“FDA is, to their credit, I think trying to look at how to approach these technology areas to allow innovation and protect the patient,” Thompson said. “That’s a classic conundrum. That’s not new. Everything FDA does is balancing innovation against the patient’s safety.”

But at last week’s symposium, Merrill Matthews Jr., a health ethicist and visiting scholar at the Institute for Policy Innovation, said the pace at which technology evolves may be too quick for the regulatory agency to stay in step.

“The FDA plays a critical role out there, certainly with medical devices that are going to have a strong health input,” Matthews said. “Having said that, I don’t think anyone has ever accused the FDA of being a fast-moving organization.”

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