News Briefs – Monday, April 3, 2006
Real-time product tracking platform built into rugged hand-held
Psion Teklogix and Interlink Technologies announced that their joint mobile computing solution is being used by Styrofoam product distributor FloraCraft. Interlink’s WHSe-LINK warehouse management software package and Psion’s rugged 7535 hand-held devices keep track of products in FloraCraft’s three-story, 250,000 square-foot warehouse.
The WHSe-LINK combines barcode and RF technologies to provide paperless, real-time data, while the 7535 hand-held is designed for harsh conditions in warehouse, manufacturing facility, yard, distribution center or port environments, the companies said.
U.S. Post Office deploys wireless vehicle management system
I.D. Systems installed its Wireless Asset Net-powered vehicle management systems at 16 additional U.S. Postal Service (USPS) facilities at a cost of about $5.6 million, the company said. These orders increase the number of USPS facilities deploying the system to 38.
Multi-service wireless mesh delivers real-time data on IP architecture
BelAir Networks announced that its BelAir300 multi-service, wireless mesh network solution for mobile operators now integrates with a GSM base station and an optional T1/E1 circuit emulation module (CEM). The device delivers legacy TDM, broadband, 2G and Wi-Fi services through UMTS- and W-CDMA-supported modular IP architectures, the company said.
Compared to traditional point-to-point wireless backhaul systems, wireless mesh enables multiple data paths without line-of-sight considerations, according to BelAir.
Wi-Fi use becomes commonplace in location-tracking applications
In-Stat reported that Wi-Fi increasingly is being used in real-time location tracking system (RTLS) applications. The firm predicted that nearly 2 million Wi-Fi-based asset tags would ship by 2010.
MachineTalker turns to Qualcomm to demonstrate data capture
MachineTalker announced an arrangement with Qualcomm that calls for MachineTalker data collection devices to transmit data collected from multiple sensors and security alerts through Qualcomm’s website. MachineTalker is using Qualcomm’s GPS-based mobile technology infrastructure and its QTRACS service to transmit the data, the company said.
The devices currently provide specific information from the cargo compartment of trucks and containers to Qualcomm’s satellite communication equipment. They link multiple types of sensors to transmit critical information, such as changes in temperature and pressure—regardless of whether the cargo doors have been opened—and other sensitive information, according to the company.
Wireless backhaul solution offers alternative to TDM
Axerra Networks, a provider of circuit and service emulation solutions over packet-access networks, announced the AXN Pseudo-Wire solution, which provides a backhaul alternative to time division multiplexing (TDM) for wireless voice and data networks.
The scalable solution supports end-to-end latency of less than 8 ms and combines circuit emulation with service emulation, which uses statistical multiplexing to make all bandwidth available in real time to support high-speed data services such as EV-DO. The solution’s access devices and gateways easily integrate with previously installed base transceiver station equipment, the company said.
Pointsec business unit focuses on encryption software for wireless devices
Pointsec Mobile Technologies announced it has formed Pointsec Wireless Solutions, a new business unit that will focus on bringing the company’s data encryption software to enterprise-level wireless devices, through both the carrier and handset vendor channels.