Wireless networking brings the benefits of mobility to computer based control systems. This technology allows laptop computers to participate in systems that required hardwired or fiber-optic connections in the past.  Wireless LAN devices can be based on proprietary vendor solutions, or the new 802.11 Wireless LAN Standard. Proprietary systems can provide transmission speeds of up to 11 megabits per second, but they don't interoperate with systems from other vendors.  802.11 systems operate at rates of 1 to 2 megabits per second, and the specification is designed to promote interoperability between systems from different vendors.  At this time interoperation isn't guaranteed, but the 802.11 vendors are working to test their products and ensure compatibility.  Your local book store can be a great asset in learning about this new technology.  We have provided a few recommended books from Amazon.com.

CorTek Software, Inc. implemented wireless networks in the deployment of the VACS Client/Server Networking.  The advantages of our implementation are numerous.  Allowing a sound engineer to adjust their console from anywhere within the venue is priceless.   For live sound applications it is essential to have the mobility that wireless has to offer. We used the Radio LAN networking equipment with great success.  Some pictures on our website show one of our colleagues adjusting the mix from the patio of the club Elevation in Lake Tahoe.

In the Las Vegas area many companies are moving to provide wireless internet access. One such company is Air-Internet.com.  This company is currently specializing in the rural markets but with the demand so high for high speed access and the cable and phone companies unable to keep up with demand, their business is booming.   They have provided a great introduction to Fixed Wireless Internet Services.

Information on wireless LAN technology can be found on the  University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab (IOL) at www.iol.unh.edu.

ITtoolbox Wireless offers forums for technical discussion, an  integrated directory, white papers and daily news geared towards Wireless  professionals and users of Wireless products. The portal also provides  content, community, job postings and much more.

WLANA Health and Safety of Wireless LANs paper now available
Influence on the health is one of most discussed topics of radio LANs, since radio devices emit radio frequency electromagnetic energy. This document wants to clarify that radio devices are not bad for the health of people using Wireless LANs (WLANs). Also a list of frequently asked questions will be presented. This is big news lately for cell phone users.

WAP - Wireless is the next wave in E-Business 

The growth of mobile appliances is staggering and the commercial and business implications for designers is amazing.  The WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) has been embraced by 90 percent of the global handset market and carriers with a subscriber base of more than 100 million. Applications for these mobile appliances include flight confirmations, packages tracking, stock quotes, navigation assistance, shopping, inventory management systems, etc.    WAP uses the Wireless Markup Language (WML)—similar to HTML—which doesn't require the device to have a keyboard or mouse.

HOW WAP WORKS

Transmission: A person with a WAP-enabled cell phone enters the address of a Web site on the microbrowser.  The cell phone then sends the request over the airwaves as a digital signal.  A cell phone transmission tower picks up the signal and relays it to a server operated by the wireless network.

Response: The request is received by a server, which translates it into HTML and relays it to the Internet server.  The server sends the info to the WAP gateway, which extracts the data, encodes it in WML (which is optimized for text-only displays), and sends it to the device.  The unit then decodes and displays the reply.

Information Display: When you retrieve information from the Net, WAP doesn't send you the entire message. Instead, the device sends a card (a packet of streaming data) that includes encoded requests for specific information, such as a stock quote or an address map.

CorTek Software, Inc. is pursuing this fast growing market my providing our services in the design and application of wireless solutions. One database application is demonstrated below.  This work is being done for AttorneyLinks.com and will allow anyone to find an attorney quickly using their cellphone/PDA.  With location information the application will also be able to give you the location of an attorney nearest you, for those emergency situations.  Further, the WAP protocol allows for the page to actually do the dialing for you with a simple click.

If you have any questions on making your database WAP accessible then please see our contact page and send us an email to discuss your needs.

We have provided links to useful information to help get you going in this fast pace market

AnyWhereYouGo.com - http://www.anywhereyougo.com
Wireless Developer Network - http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/

Up to the minute news to satisfy your interests can be found at the online magazine WirelessWeek. 

TCP/IP Networking Resources

TCP and IP were developed by the Department of Defense (DOD) research projects to connect a number of different networks designed by different vendors into a network of networks. The DOD designed TCP/IP to be robust and automatically recover from any node or phone line failure.  The design allows for the construction of very large networks with less central management.  TCP/IP is a family of protocols, a few provide low-level functions needed for many applications.  It is important to have a general understanding of TCP/IP when implementing wireless networks.  Below are some links to very good resources on learning about TCP/IP.

Introduction to TCP/IP http://pclt.cis.yale.edu/pclt/COMM/TCPIP.HTM
IP overview, by Cisco. http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/ito_doc/ip.htm
Daryl's TCP/IP Primer - Very comprehensive - http://ipprimer.windsorcs.com/section.cfm

A comprehensive list of directions for enabling TCP window scaling on a number of different platforms can be found on Jamshid Mahdavi's page at PSC, if you want to speed up your TCP/IP connection then this is a must read: Enabling High Performance Data Transfers on Hosts: Notes for Users and System Administrators


NetStat Live at AnalogX is a full blown freeware TCP/IP performance monitor for Windows. Highly recommended. Do a download from a FTP server at your cable modem head-end, and let NetStat tell you what speed you get.

Optimized Engineering Technical Compendium - a good collection of essays and papers on technical issues of interest to Networking Professionals.  Topics include Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, Token-Ring, FDDI, LLC, IEEE 802.4, Wireless LAN and more.

Information provided by:

CorTek Software
Las Vegas, NV 
TEL: (702) 263-0419
e-mail: sales@corteksoft.com
URL: www.corteksoft.com