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Wireless Networking Handbook
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Jim Geier
ISBN: 156205631x
Publication Date: 09/01/96

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Taking into consideration the need for high-speed transmission and quick installation (not to mention on-site obstacles to wiring), Younkers decided to pursue a wireless network alternative. The company incorporated wireless WaveLAN cards onto its NCR 7052 POS terminals, linked through a WavePOINT wire-to-wireless bridge, to an in-store processor that can perform such specialized database functions as customer gift registration. The in-store networks are in turn connected to the headquarters’ mainframe, which handles credit authorizations, merchandise locations, and other applications. The decision to adopt a WaveLAN-based system allowed Younkers to meet (and even exceed) its anticipated goals of greater processing power, timely roll-out, low cost, and flexibility. The company has assembled a system that enables employees to instantly access host-based information from virtually any store or remote site using versatile terminals that can be moved anywhere at any time. Thanks to the mobility of WaveLAN workstations, Younkers has even been able to reduce the number of POS terminals throughout its stores. The retailer also avoided the expense and disruption of installing twisted-pair wire in 53 separate buildings.

National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., boasts one of the world’s largest and most diverse collections of fine art. The Gallery’s shop plays an important role in raising funds to maintain the collection—each year, visitors purchase more than 200,000 exhibition catalogues, art books, and more than 1.5 million printed reproductions. In addition to the main shop, temporary retail setups are established throughout the museum’s two buildings for special exhibitions, which generally remain in place for a few weeks or months at a time. However, the buildings’ marble floors (which cover two city blocks) and other physical obstructions make setting up these temporary locations impractical, since registers must be hardwired into the Gallery’s ethernet network for credit card authorization, price look-up, and end-of-day balancing.

The Gallery has simplified the creation of these special retail stations by installing WaveLAN on its AT&T 7450 terminals. These terminals can then be wheeled to the exhibition site and connected wirelessly to the museum’s ethernet network, which consists of several LANs responsible for everything from accounting to building automation. No wires are run between terminals, which provides management with more flexibility in terms of where the retail operation for a particular exhibition is placed. When a cashier needs to make a price inquiry or credit-card authorization, the request is made wirelessly from the issuing terminal to the nearest WavePOINT access device, several of which are installed throughout the buildings. WavePOINT communicates to the server in the Gallery’s office, which supplies the pricing information, or dials out for authorization, and then responds to the POS terminal.

WaveLAN has eliminated the problem of exposed wiring, which has considerably reduced terminal down time as well as the hazard of scattered wires. Moreover, set-up time for retail stations is much shorter, since the WavePOINT access devices are pre-installed and furnish broad coverage. All employees have to do is roll their terminals to the desired location and set them for the appropriate WavePOINT address. WaveLAN makes wireless transaction processing pervasive throughout the museum, while at the same time providing terminals with continuous access to the most recently updated data on all of the museum’s various databases.

Sydney Observatory

Sydney Observatory, part of Australia’s Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, has provided star-gazing to astronomy enthusiasts for nearly 140 years. Built in 1858, the Observatory has since been classified by the National Trust as one of Australia’s historical buildings. When the Observatory began investigating ways to share these views of space with a much broader audience, the obvious solution was to download images to multiple PCs and large screens via a local area network. Due to the historical nature of the building, however, cabling was not an option. Very thick sandstone walls and historic plaster ceilings could not be easily drilled into, and strings of cable would have been unsightly and unsafe to the public. The only solution was a wireless LAN—WaveLAN.

WaveLAN is installed in each of the Observatory’s eight PCs and the network server. Telescopic images are downloaded from the Internet or from electronic cameras housed in the Observatory Dome’s telescopes. These images are then displayed on the various PCs for individual viewing or on larger monitors for group viewing.

In addition to improving access to images and network information, the Observatory has the flexibility to change the locations of the PCs within the building. WaveLAN has made office work and administrative tasks much simpler and more efficient. Mr. George Rossi, the network administrator, points out that “AT&T’s wireless solution has effectively solved the Observatory’s networking problems.”


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