Cisco Linksys – Smart Wi-Fi Routers

Smart Wi-Fi routers are the trending technology because we are moving from traditional Wired Communication to Wireless communication and because of the advantages in Wireless communications- many organizations are trying to make the most use of it and integrate all such features which might make the user feel more comfortable.

Smart Wi-Fi – the name says it all, it has several other capabilities from just being a Wireless Router to connect to various Devices. The routers offer new tools for home network monitoring and control, and new mobile apps for anytime, anywhere remote access of files, photos, videos, music and more.

Easier Management and Setup

To make home networks easier for consumers to monitor and control, Linksys is also introducing a smart network map, a new Smart Wi-Fi tool that will be free for new Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Routers. The smart network map displays a visual representation of the home network and all of the connected devices to give users valuable information about network connectivity and current bandwidth usage so they can easily control devices, resolve issues, and get the most out of their home network.

To further simplify setup, Linksys’ new Smart Wi-Fi Routers can be installed from most tablets and smartphones or from a browser on a PC, without the need for a setup CD. Consumers simply connect to the router with their computer, tablet or smartphone, and then follow the simple set-up wizard to complete the installation. An optional Linksys Smart Wi-Fi account can be created following the set-up process to provide easy control of the home network, including settings, connected devices and Smart Wi-Fi tools on virtually any device, anytime, anywhere.

Simple Tap with NFC capability

To simplify connecting devices to the network, SimpleTap™ is now available with all Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Routers. SimpleTap simplifies the process of connecting devices to a home network, making it as easy as one touch of a button or a quick tap of a card. With SimpleTap, users can take advantage of Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) in a number of ways such as using the NFC card shipping with all 802.11ac enabled Smart Wi-Fi routers, pushing the physical WPS button on a router or pushing the WPS button in the router’s browser or app interface.

Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Apps

Among the apps coming for Linksys Smart Wi-Fi are a several that will take advantage of the platform’s new ability to remotely access storage connected to the router. Four of the apps using this new capability are expected to be available in the spring.

App name	Developer	Description
FileFinch	Fresh Consulting	FileFinch helps users create a personal, highly secure cloud solution using their own hardware. Users simply connect a USB flash drive or hard disk to a Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Router and click to link their account. They can then access their files anywhere.
Qnext for Facebook	Qnext Corp.	Qnext lets users privately access and share large files, without uploads, with Facebook friends from a Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Router.
HipPlay	Axentra Corporation	HipPlay allows users to access, play and share pictures, music and videos stored at home from anywhere on a mobile device.
save@home	Xoriant	With save@home users single-click to save pictures from a smartphone to their personal cloud at home rather than “backing” up pictures.

Courtesy: newsroom.cisco.com.

Posted By
Mahesh.P

DONGLE – How Does It Work ?

Many of us might have old desktops at home which we will be using for watching movies, playing songs and working on some low end applications. Because our Old Desktops configuration probably would be a Intel p4 or a Intel Pentium D or an older version of AMD, also that the RAM would be around typically 512MB.

But still we use them for our daily use because the resale value of them in the market is very less as Electronic Devices are growing very fast and we are able to get high end devices at a lower cost so who wants to buy an Old Desktop PC. Now-a-days many of us are using Wi-Fi at home and because our Old PC’s typically don’t have a wireless capability built into it, we face difficulty to connect our Mobile Devices, laptops to our Desktop PC. Come’On guys Wireless Connectivity is the new trend, so i would like to introduce you to a device which would solve this problem .

Gi – Fi (An Extension to Wi-Fi)

Gi-Fi or Gigabit Wireless is the world’s first transceiver integrated on a single chip that operates at 60GHz on the CMOS process. It will allow wireless transfer of audio and video data up to 5 gigabits per second, ten times the current maximum wireless transfer rate, at one-tenth of the cost usually within a range of 10 meters. It utilizes a 5mm square chip and a 1mm wide antenna burning less than 2 watts of power to transmit data wirelessly over short distances, much like Bluetooth.
The development will enable the truly wireless office and home of the future. As the integrated transceiver is extremely small, it can be embedded into devices. The breakthrough will mean the networking of office and home equipment without wires will finally become a reality.

NICTA researchers have chosen to develop this technology in the 57-64GHz unlicensed frequency band as the millimeter-wave range of the spectrum makes possible high component on-chip integration as well as allowing for the integration of very small high gain arrays. The available 7GHz of spectrum results in very high data rates, up to 5 gigabits per second to users within an indoor environment. It satisfies the standards of IEEE 802.15.3C.

A new silicon chip developed in Melbourne is predicted to revolutionize the way household gadgets like televisions, phones and DVD players talk to each other. The tiny five-millimeter-a-side chip can transmit data through a wireless connection at a breakthrough five gigabits per second over distances of up to 10 meters. An entire high-definition movie from a video shop kiosk could be transmitted to a mobile phone in a few seconds, and the phone could then upload the movie to a home computer or screen at the same speed.

The “Gi-Fi” was unveiled at the Melbourne University-based laboratories of NICTA, the National Information and Communications Technology research centre,Australia. Gigabit wireless: The Gi-Fi integrated wireless transceiver chip developed at the National ICT Research Centre, Australia.

Short-range wireless technology is a hotly contested area, with research teams around the world racing to be the first to launch such a product.Professor Skafiadas said his team is the first to demonstrate a working transceiver-on-a-chip that uses CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) technology – the cheap, ubiquitous technique that prints silicon chips.
This means his team is head and shoulders in front of the competition in terms of price and power demand. His chip uses only a tiny one-millimeter-wide antenna and less than two watts of power, and would cost less than $10 to manufacture. It uses the 60GHz “millimeter wave” spectrum to transmit the data, which gives it an advantage over Wi-Fi (wireless internet). Because of this band we are achieving high data rates energy propagation in the 60 GHz band as it has unique characteristics that make possible many other benefits such as excellent immunity to co-channel interference, high security, and frequency re-use.

Wi-Fi’s part of the spectrum is increasingly crowded, sharing the waves with devices such as cordless phones, which leads to interference and slower speeds. But the millimeter wave spectrum (30 to 300 GHz) is almost unoccupied, and the new chip is potentially hundreds of times faster than the average home Wi-Fi unit. However, Wi-Fi still benefits from being able to provide wireless coverage over a greater distance.

Victoria’s minister for information and communication technology, Theo Theophanous, said it showed Victoria was at the cutting edge of IT innovation. He praised the 27-member team which worked on the development of the chip. The high-powered team included 10 PhDs students from the University of Melbourne and collaborated with companies such as computer giant IBM during the research.

There are many usage scenarios that can be addressed by Gi-Fi. It is used in office appliances, In wireless pan networks, Inter-vehicle communication system, Huge data file transmission, Broadcasting video signal transmission system in sports stadium ,Ad-hoc information distribution with Point-to-Point network extension, mm-Wave video-signals transmission system, Video information transfer and Household appliances like video on demand, HDTV ,home theatre etc. Applications

The Gi-Fi integrated transceiver chip is may be launched by starting of next year by NICTA,Australia will be the first. Due to the less cost of chip many companies are forward to launch with lower cost. The potential of mw-WPAN for ultra fast data exchange has prompted companies like Intel, LG, Matsushita(Panasonic), NEC, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba to form Wireless HD, an industry-led effort to define a specification for the next consumer electronic products. Specifically Wireless HD has a stated goal of enabling wireless connectivity for streaming high-definition connects between source devices and high definition displays.

Posted by

Nandini ( MGIT ECE ALUMNI)