An Introduction to Short-Range Wireless Data Communications

A plethora of short-range wireless data communication solutions now vie for the attention of embedded designers. The current crop of contenders include IrDA, Bluetooth, 802.11b, and more newcomers than you can keep track of. These technologies cover a wide range of capabilities and constraints. Sometimes they compete and other times they complement. Who will win? Who will lose? Do there have to be winners and losers? This paper provides a survey of the broad range of short-range wireless data communication technologies currently available for embedded devices.