MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

1

There has been a reduction in the number of standard interface types used for communication and four now dominate the market.

1. USB

3. WiFi

4. Bluetooth

2. Firewire

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

2

1. USB

3. WiFi

4. Bluetooth

2. Firewire

USB connectors can be “hot-swapped” i.e. plugged in and out while the computer is switched on.

The Universal Serial Bus is a wired technology which allows you to connect peripherals to the computer.

The latest standard, USB 2.0(Hi-Speed USB), allows a maximum data transfer of 480Mbps.

There are plans to make this a wireless standard too.

Up to 127 devices can be connected to a computer using the USB bus.

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

3

1. USB

3. WiFi

4. Bluetooth

2. Firewire

Up to 63 devices can be connected to a computer using the Firewire bus.

Firewire is also a wired technology which allows you to connect peripherals to the computer.

The latest standard, (Firewire 800), allows a maximum data transfer of 786Mbps.

Firewire connectors can be “hot-swapped” i.e. plugged in and out while the computer is switched on.

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

4

1. USB

3. WiFi

4. Bluetooth

2. Firewire

Wireless Fidelity is a term used to define a wireless network based on any type of 802.11 network.

WiFi products all use the same radio frequency to broadcast data and so they will be compatible.

The latest standard, 802.11g, allows data transfer at up to 54Mbps.

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

5

1. USB

3. WiFi

4. Bluetooth

2. Firewire

Depending on the manufacturer, up to 100 users can access using WiFi at the same time. This would obviously affect performance.

Security can be an issue with wireless technology but security measures are built into the standard.

The range for the radio signals can be from 50 to 100 metres although wall thickness, type, furniture, interference etc. can affect this.

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

6

1. USB

3. WiFi

4. Bluetooth

2. Firewire

Security can be an issue with wireless technology but security measures are built into the standard.

This technology uses wireless short‑range radio links to allow electronic devices to communicate with each other.

Version 2 allows data transfer at up to 3Mbps. The range for radio signals varies from 1 to 10 metres.

Each device can be connected to up to 7 other devices in a network known as a piconet. A device can be attached to several piconets simultaneously.

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

7

Reduction in physical size.

Reduction in price per unit of storage.

Increasing physical capacity.

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

8

Traditional storage technologies have used magnetic and optical methods for storage. These have been around for many years but improvements are still being made to improve capacity, performance and value for money.

Two current developments are attracting interest.

Blu-ray v HD DVD

Holographic storage

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

9

These two new optical technologies are competing to be the successor to our current optical DVDs

The term Blu-ray comes from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. Blue-violet laser has a shorter wavelength (405 nm) than the common DVD format which uses a red 650 nm laser.

This means that substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc .

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

10

Blu-ray Discs can store 25 GB on each layer, as opposed to a DVD's 4.7 GB.

Several manufacturers have released single layer and dual layer (50 GB) recordable BDs and rewritable discs.

HD DVD uses the same blue laser technology and can store 15 GB on each layer. Dual layer allows 30 GB.

It remains to be seen which one will win the format war

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

11

Holographic memory is a technology that can store information at high density inside crystals.

It is an optical form of storage which will go beneath the surface and use the volume of the recording medium for storage instead of only the surface area.

By using three dimensions Holographic memory offers the possibility of storing 1 terabyte (TB) of data in a sugar-cube-sized crystal.

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

12

Pages of data can be accessed at a time instead of one bit at a time.

These factors will reduce physical size, reduce price per unit of storage, increase capacity and improve access times.

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

13

1. Flat display

3. Virtual 3D display

2. Real 3D display

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

14

1. Flat display

3. Virtual 3D display

2. Real 3D display

Flat displays are becoming commonplace with LCD and TFT screens.

Flexible displays are also being developed which can be folded up when not in use or displayed, for example, on a tee-shirt.

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

15

1. Flat display

3. Virtual 3D display

2. Real 3D display

Real 3D displays project a moving image into space. These are called 'volumetric' displays. The user sees a three-dimensional image in the air.

This technology is in development and brings exciting prospects for the future.

MM Topic 5 - Trends in Contemporary technologies

16

1. Flat display

3. Virtual 3D display

2. Real 3D display

Virtual 3D requires the user to have a separate image for each eye. This generally involves the user wearing a virtual reality headset or special glasses to provide the different images.

U.S. Navy personnel using a VR parachute trainer