Personal Area Networks: Solutions and Market Opportunities

With almost all the media attention on the evolution of 3G/4G Wide Area Networks (WAN), advancements in Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) technologies such as WiMAX, and Wireless Local Area Network (LAN) improvements through 802.11n and MIMO, many people do not realize the role, importance and market opportunities for Personal Area Network (PAN) solutions. Whereas WAN, MAN, and LAN solutions are often focused mainly on coverage for bearer communications, PAN provides a "last meter" solution for application personalization as well as opportunities for non-voice communications, machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, and a variety of next generation applications and application-enablers such as presence detection, identify recognition, and more.

This report provides the reader with everything needed to understand PAN technology, solutions and market opportunities. The report covers technical options, standards, commercial applications, trends and the future of PAN. It also discusses PAN vendors and products. The report also addresses more advanced topics such as security and quality of service (QoS). The report also provides a case study analysis for implementing a location tracking system with Zigbee-based active RFID.

• Wireless service providers including cellular mobile network operators, WiMAX, WLAN, and others
• Anyone seeking an understanding of how to leverage PAN to complement their network
• Investors in the area of wireless application personalization
• Wireless component vendors and OEM manufacturers
• Application developers and systems integrators
• Wireless application and content providers