Alan Lewis and Chris Guy Dept of Engineering The University of Reading Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 2AY UK email: c.g.guy@rdg.ac.uk
This paper presents the results of a case study of a system, the ARLAN 610, which provides wireless connectivity between an Ethernet backbone Local Area Network (LAN) or LAN segment and any number of remote workstations equipped with ARLAN Wireless Network Adapters or Interface Cards. The purpose of the study was to determine how well the wireless link performed in a typical office environment, where it might be used for replacing conventional wired LANs. The original application in mind for this wireless network was as a data transfer mechanism for mobile robots. The link to a mobile robot must be capable of carrying real-time video information, to provide feedback to the base station, as well as command and control signals. Hence, this is a most demanding multimedia application. The study concludes that the performance of this wireless network falls far short of that needed for true multimedia applications.
Alan Lewis is a research student in the Electronic Enginnering Group at the University of Reading, UK. He completed his MSc in Radio Systems Engineering at the University of Hull, UK, in 1993.
Chris Guy is a Senior Lecturer in the Electronic Engineering Group at The University of Reading, UK. He is the author of "Data Communications for Engineers", Macmillan Education 1993, and about 35 research papers.