News Briefs – Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Wireless bridge connects digital ad system to public washrooms
Impressionaire, which installs 12-inch, flat-panel-screen digital advertising systems in public washrooms, will integrate Quatech’s Airborne Wireless Ethernet Bridge module into its system. The bridge creates a connection between an 802.11b WLAN and a device with a standard Ethernet port.
3G coverage comes to Malaysian buildings, public spaces
LGC Wireless’ InterReach Unison systems have been deployed for 3G cellular accessibility at Malaysia’s best-known attractions, including the Petronas Towers, the world’s tallest twin-tower structure, the Berjaya Times Square theme park and the Mid Valley mall. To deliver 3G-coverage, the system features distributed antennas and an architecture that consists of a main hub, an expansion hub and a remote access unit (RAU). The main hub connects to a base station or a repeater to convert an incoming RF signal to an optical signal, then sends it to the expansion hubs via fiber-optic cable, according to the company. The expansion hub then converts the optical signal to an electrical signal, distributes it to RAUs via twisted-pair cabling, and then converts the signal back to RF and transmits it to wireless devices located in the coverage area.
Illinois miners’ communications bill becomes law
A bill to protect trapped miners, and rescuers responding to such incidents, recently was signed into law by Governor Rod Blagojevich. Illinois Senate Bill 929 requires mine operators to install wireless devices able to receive and transmit emergency communications from the surface to any location throughout the mine. The bill also orders operators to purchase a real-time tracking system capable of monitoring the physical location of each person underground.
Delivery service, Italian supermarket deploy Symbol’s mobile computers
Symbol’s MC9060 mobile computers have been deployed by Golden State Overnight, a California priority overnight delivery service, to manage and track the pickup and delivery of the 8 million packages it processes each year. Symbol also announced its computers are being used by Conad del Tirreno, an Italian cooperative supermarket, to manage the delivery of containers from its warehouse to its sales outlets. According to Symbol, the driver and sales outlet manager enter the number of containers into the computer and validate the transaction using their unique PINs. This activates synchronization with a central database through a GPRS or GSM connection.
Monitoring system tracks cryogenic containers
Praxair developed a system specifically design to monitor cryogenic containers. The system will detect liquid level, temperature and pressure data in both the insulating layer of nitrogen and helium inner vessel to ensure optimal cryogenic properties during shipment. The container information is housed in an on-board computer database that transmits data through wireless communication modems back to logistic planners, according to Praxair.
New feature stores emergency plans on wireless devices
Alltel Wireless announced enterprise customers now are able to store emergency plans on BlackBerry devices. Users can access the emergency plans in times of crisis, according to the company.