Key considerations for wire-free systems in focus

The world is for ever moving away from fixed infrastructures to wire-free solutions for passing data, and the more reliable these wire-free networks become, the more suitable they are for critical data communications. Take any typical working day, and — for most of us — crucial aspects of our daily lives are reliant on the data we receive over wire-free networks. Our mobile phones are the obvious link we have for most of the information we rely on — as we check the weather forecast, get alerts on transport delays, and get the news, messages from friends and family, work communications, and reports. All these are available to us before we even leave the house.

As we then leave our homes and venture onto public transport or drive to work, our links with the data sources we rely on don't stop. Wire-free data connections tell us when the next bus will arrive, where there are traffic hold-ups, and even switch traffic lights to optimise traffic flow. At no point throughout any 24-hour period are we not benefiting from some form of wire-free data communication; even when we are fast asleep smart meters are sending data about our gas and electricity usage, our mobiles carry out automatic updates, and the list goes on.

If you ever watch any films or TV box sets which pre-date mobile phones, those of us of a certain age will be able to reminisce having to get up and go to the hallway to answer the phone, using an 'A to Z' to navigate and find addresses, and having a supply of 2 and 10p coins to use in public phone boxes. Some may consider that these were happier days, but they are now long gone, and today we are no longer tethered to a certain point where a cable happens to terminate.