When Mountain View, California-based Agilis Corp introduced its handheld workstation last year (CI No 1,168), one of its promising features was a wireless local area network module that would allow the computer to communicate on an Ethernet network at a rate of 236Kbps. With this module installed, a handheld Agilis workstation operates as a mobile node on an Ethernet-based network with a range of up to 100 yards indoors and about half a mile outdoors. The Agilis wireless network is based on spread spectrum technology, which enables signals in a narrow frequency band to be spread and transmitted over a broad range of frequencies with lower energy content, thus minimising noise and interference with other radio devices. The signal is then collapsed back to its original narrow frequency band at the receiving end of the transmission. Agilis uses a technique for spreading and collapsing the data signals called direct sequencing, which involves a sequencing algorithm that is set at both the transmitting and receiving ends to pick up the desired signals. As a whole, the Agilis system comes with Radio Manager software, which enables users to select among four frequencies and four different spread spectrum sequencing algorithms, creating a total of 16 different channels. The $2,500 network module plugs into the handheld Agilis like any other slice or module. The wireless network is intended for exchanging data or electronic mail in warehouses and retail facilities, manufacturing plants, service centres, or on trade or convention show floors, to name a few applications. Eventually, Agilis hopes the technology will appear in wireless office local area networks. Agilis plans to offer its technology for other communications protocols, but, in the meantime, it is worth noting that the transceiver’s data transfer rate of 236Kbps coincides with the transmission speed of the LocalTalk protocol used on Macintosh-based AppleShare and TOPS networks.
