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personal area network

   Also found in: Acronyms, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.

personal area network

Transmitting data over a short distance of typically no more than two or three feet. Bluetooth is an example of a wireless PAN (see WPAN).

The Most Personal of Personal Area Networks
In the mid-1990s, IBM's Almaden Research Center developed a method that let people transfer information by touch. It worked by sending a billionth of an amp (nanoamp) of current through the body, which is actually a thousand times less than the current generated by combing your hair.

Numerous applications were cited; for example, business card data could be exchanged by shaking hands. By touching a pager in one hand, the calling telephone number could be sent to a cellphone in the other hand. A PAN-enabled unit worn on the wrist could transmit a user's ID to an ATM or security checkpoint.

In 2007, Ident NA Technology was founded to market SKINPLEX in the U.S. Developed in Germany by Ident Technology AG, SKINPLEX uses the human skin as the transmission medium. For more information, visit www.skinplex.net. See also processor area network.

Touch and Transfer
Reminiscent of the movie E.T., this photo depicts the transfer of business card information by touching fingers. (Image courtesy of IBM Almaden Research Center.)



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Suitable for host and embedded applications, MicroStack Profiles is portable to any desired OS/CPU platform and contains all the key profiles for data communication including Generic Access Profile (GAP), Service Discovery Application Profile (SDAP), Serial Port Profile (SPP), Dial-up Networking (DUN), Fax, Generic Object Exchange Profile (GEOP), Object Push Profile (OPP), File Transfer Profile (FTP), Synchronization, and Personal Area Network Profile (PAN).
4 wireless personal area network (WPAN) standards to communicate data up to 40 miles away via the powerful 900 MHz 1-Watt XTend RF modem.
Although Wi-Fi offers networking capabilities not provided by wireless Personal Area Network (PAN) technologies, there are some device segments eI| such as digital video camcorders, digital still cameras and printers eI| where Wi-Fi faces technology competitors such as the emerging Wireless USB.
 
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