wsd
Latest
FCC starts up white spaces database, devices now inevitable
White space devices seem likely to play a major part in the FCC's solution to the wireless spectrum crisis. Operating in the buffers between frequencies used by television broadcasts, these devices will be able to exploit TV's airspace without interfering with the incumbent users' traffic. The unlicensed utilization of white spaces has been approved going on for a year now, but really important government stuff has gotten in the way of making that vote a reality. It was only recently that Claudville, Virginia got the very first such network, and initial results show that it hasn't disrupted any of the fine, fine programming percolating the local airwaves. The only issue we see is that your WSD will need to be capable of both identifying its own position by GPS and hooking up to the database to find out what bands it may use, but then it's not like anyone sells smartphones without these capabilities nowadays, is it?
Archronix ArcWay bridges the ZigBee-WSD divide
Canada's Archronix is out make your home a little more point-and-click friendly with its latest product, a gateway that acts as a bridge between WSD-enabled controllers (that's Web Services for Devices) and ZigBee-compliant gear. The former can include specialized home controllers like those from Exceptional Innovation and, soon, any Vista-running PC, while ZigBee devices can include everything from light switches to thermostats to, yes, robots. Problem is, the two technologies have been operating in their own corners of our excessively-automated future home; peacemakers that they are, however, Archronix has found a way to get the two to play nice with each other. Its ArcWay device simply sits between your ZigBee gear and your WSD controller, translating the ZigBee information into something more WSD-friendly and transfering it over your existing home network to your PC or WSD-enabled control unit. In demonstrating the technology, Archronix seems to have shown they have a sense of humor (at least we hope so), crafting what must be the most technologically complex means of turning on a light bulb yet devised. Ah, progress.
