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Bluetooth
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Wireless USB
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Zigbee
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Wi-Fi
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Range
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Short range (3 meters unless the power is increased)
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Short range, 3 to 10 meters
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Medium range up to 100 meters. Longer range requires more power
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Medium range to 100 meters
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Operating Frequency
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Low and high speed data (to 24 Mb/sec in version 3, though today most devices are 3 Mb/s max)
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Low and high speed data (to 480 Mb/sec, but many wireless USB chips can’t handle this rate)
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Low speed data up to 250 Kb/s
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High speed (to 600 Mb/sec)
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Implementation Cost
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Low cost
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Low cost
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Low cost of parts, but implementation can be expensive.
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Low cost with new Wi-Fi modules
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Power Consumption
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Low power – it can sleep between transmissions, but the wake-up time can be 3 seconds, compared to a few milliseconds for Zigbee
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Low power – it can sleep between transmissions
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Low power – it can sleep between transmissions
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Generally not suited to battery applications, but there are several standards, some include low power
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Networking Topology/
Configuration
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Point-to-point
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Point-to-point
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Self-organizing multi-node mesh network.
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Point-to-multipoint
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Typical applications
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Connecting
Cell phone to headsets or computers to peripheral devices
Toys
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Primarily used in PC peripherals. Good for transmitting high speed sensor data, such as vibration
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Widely used in industrial and commercial applications like lighting control, process control, and measurement of data that is on portable devices
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Excels at carrying Ethernet signals wirelessly. It is also used to connect consumer electronics devices, such as hand held game consoles and cameras to PCs.
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Strengths
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Designed to replace wires in portable applications. Good for audio, and can support video
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Software compatiible with USB.
Easy to convert serial or USB to wireless USB
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Excellent for very low data rate battery powered applications.
Ability to conserve power by sleeping yet have high power for long distance transmission.
Can extend transmission distance by passing data from node to node.
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Designed for stationary base station with multiple portable devices.
Ethernet data rates
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| Weaknesses |
Not good at sleeping between transmissions.
Limited range
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Limited range. Even shorter range at high speed (3 meters at 480 Mb/second) |
Complicated software to implement - some vendors have Zigbee like solutions to overcome this. |
Not good for battery operation. |
