17-09-2014, 02:35 PM
Human society is entering an era of ubiquitous computing, when networks are seamlessly interconnected and information is always accessible at our fingertips. The practical implementation of ubiquitous services requires three levels of connectivity: Wide Area Networks (WAN), typically via the Internet, to remotely connect all types of severs and terminals; Local Area Networks (LAN), typically via Ethernet or Wi-Fi connectivity among all the information and communication appliances in offices and homes; and Human Area Networks (HAN) for connectivity to personal information, media and communication appliances within the much smaller sphere of ordinary daily activities-- the last one meter.
A Personal Area Network (PAN) is a computer network used for communication among computer devices (including telephones and personal digital assistants) close to one person. The devices may or may not belong to the person in question. The reach of a PAN is typically a few meters. PANs can be used for communication among the personal devices themselves (intrapersonal communication), or for connecting to a higher level network and the Internet (an uplink).
Personal area networks may be wired with computer buses such as USB and FireWire. A Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) can also be made possible with network technologies such as IrDA, Bluetooth, UWB, Z-Wave and ZigBee.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation’s (NTT) RedTacton is a break-through technology that, for the first time, enables reliable high-speed HAN. In the past, Bluetooth, infrared communications, Radio Frequency ID systems (RFID), and other technologies have been proposed to solve the "last meter" connectivity problem. However, they each have various fundamental technical limitations that constrain their usage, such as the precipitous fall-off in transmission speed in multi-user environments producing network congestion.Redtacton has a lot of advantages over its predecessors. It has a very high speed of connectivity in comparison to all the above mentioned technologies, there are certain more positives in this new technology that of no human safety from the electric fields that will be present. Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-wave, UWB has been explained in detail below.