WIRELESS TRANSMISSION: A Cordless Home

W

hy do without all the comforts of

telecommunications and data communications that you have become

accustomed to in the office when you are at home? The answer is

often that the necessary connections are not available and

expansive installations in a rented flat would simply be a waste

of money. Or you simply do not like the thought of the jumbled

mess of cables in the lounge. Thanks to some new products, this

is a thing of the past!

Take the case of Ananda.

He knows the look only too well, and doesn’t feel very

confident of his chances of being allowed to turn the study into

a hobby room and move his desk and computer into the lounge.

"What! That jumbled mess of cables right next to the sofa?

And the telephone cable laid under the carpet? Please, spare me

the chaos," Gita responds. In some ways she’s right, he

thinks. The many cables for the PC, printer, scanner and video

equipment draped around the desk are not exactly decorative, and

the telephone socket is on the wrong side of the room.

Nevertheless it would make an excellent working corner. He

mentions the problem to a good friend who says that’s not a

problem. You must simply go cordless and at the same time you

can install a garden camera designed according to the DMAP

Standard (DECT Multimedia Access Profile) for Gita. She will

then be able to look at the activity around the pond or keep an

eye on the back gate from the PC in the lounge. That will

convince her!

The friend knows what he

is talking about. A clutter of cables around your desk at home

is a thing of the past. The future lies in wireless transmission

technologies—also at home! At last you can arrange furniture

precisely as you would like to without having to worry about

connections and cables. You not only make your calls on a

cordless telephone and surf the Internet on your laptop in the

garden, but a whole range of other applications can be

implemented. Why not check the temperature by reading the

outside thermometer cordless from the PC before you leave the

house? Open the garage door? Or connect the video or a house

surveillance camera?

All these applications

will be possible in future using products that are compatible

with the DMAP Standard. Small companies, freelancers and private

persons should in future be able to experience the same comfort

with their data communications and telecommunications as many of

us have already become used to at our professionally equipped

workplace in the office. But in a stylish, wireless world with

many additional applications which make working and living in

the home much more pleasant. The maxim is quite simply: Modern

technology in the living room: Yes. Cables and extensive

installation work: No.

No

Installation Needed

A

solution for cordless in-house communications is available. For

instance, Ascom has products that combine ISDN functionality

with the advantages of cordless systems and is extremely easy to

install. The heart of a typical in-house solution is the base

station for the transmission of data (DMAP) and voice (DECT); in

addition an ISDN PCMCIA or ISA card as the interface to a laptop

or PC. Cordless access to the Internet is possible with up to 2

x 64 Kbit/s. The product comes with the Eurit 133 ISDN

handset including charging bay as part of the kit. After all,

the Internet surfer in the home should also be able to make a

call via the wireless Internet access. In addition this product

offers answering machine and fax functions and allows data

transmission over the Internet. All the technical features

associated with this product are based entirely on industrial

standards such as Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT)

for the cordless communication and ISDN for wired communication.

Six mobile DMAP units can be used for data transmission and up

to six Generic Access Profile (GAP) telephones for voice

transmission. All handsets can be used at any time for internal

conversations.

"No cables, no

problems," says Ananda to Gita, but her skepticism

disappears only when she hears the magic words "Plug and

Play". Of course they both enjoy surfing the Internet and

processing videos on the PC. But technology only brings pleasure

if it is easy to use. This applies much more at home than it

does in the office, and is a prerequisite for the broad

acceptance of new applications.

Ananda now sends e-mail to

his friends cordless from his laptop in the lounge. With the

cordless telephone he can contact Gita anywhere in the home.

Using the fax software he sends a fax showing the route to the

restaurant where they are to meet friends on Saturday, etc.

Communication can be so simple and natural when it is cordless.

It is only in this way that "human" communications

habits can be transferred to technical communications systems.

Courtesy:

Ascom