Parallel Developments
Besides iFind, there are other tools that increase collaboration options in interesting ways. Alcatel-Lucent's My Teamwork is a converged communications platform that combines presence-aware IM with phone and conference calls and shared applications and presentations. Nortel Networks' MCS 5100 Server combines unified messaging and multimedia communications. These products rely on the user to tell the network her location.
Cisco Systems' 2710 Wireless Location Appliance, on the other hand, can track many endpoint types to enhance inventory control, people tracking, E911 services and workflow automation. Cisco plans to integrate this location awareness into its presence server.
Can a middleware layer be developed to enable the integration of location awareness and applications? Absolutely. Cisco has stated it will evolve product lines into platforms on which business applications will integrate mobility, presence, location awareness and Wi-Fi. Both Cisco and Newbury Networks provide a SOAP/XML API to spur this integration. Newbury says that it will work with various hardware platforms from Aruba Networks, Cisco, Nortel, Symbol Technologies and Trapeze Networks. Newbury provides both Java-based and Web-based APIs for use by third-party developers.
In parallel with the Wi-Fi efforts, 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) has published a standard for an architecture that includes the Open Services Access API, which can be used as an interface to network devices that know their locations. Such information can be requested of the device or pushed by the device to the application.
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 NWC REPORTSTech U: The World Is Our Campus Web conferencing software lets colleagues, students and researchers from all over the globe collaborate. |
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Pending 6GHz spectrum availability, faster speeds, and private wireless access use drive FWA forward.
The new HPE Aruba 730 series Wi-Fi 7 access points tout high performance, enhanced security, location tracking capabilities, and more.
Verizon is demoing crowd analytics technology that uses 5G along with AI and mobile edge computing to give stadium operators insights into the flow of fans throughout a venue.
