Wireless Systems Design UPDATE PlanetEE - www.planetee.com November 13, 2003

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Today's Table of Contents: 

1. Viewpoint Exclusive: The Blogger Revolution 

2. Off-the-Cuff: Is Blogging a Threat to Technology Journalism? 

3. WPA's Little Secret 

4. 3D Gaming Content Now on Mobile Devices 

5. Online Resource for Wi-Fi and Broadband 

6. WLAN Integrated in Hp Print Server 

7. New Books > Handbook of RF and Wireless Technologies > Real 802.11 Security: Wi-Fi Protected Access and 802.11i

8. In-Depth Coverage Links > Analyze And Optimize Throughout The Flow > MLC Challenges Mobile-Entry Barriers 

9. Happenings

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Atmel has everything you need to design almost any wireless application. If you are looking for ways to improve your wireless designs, cut costs and generally make your life easier, visit our wireless products today.

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1. Viewpoint - Exclusive to WSD Update 

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The Blogger Revolution

By Chuck Bennett, Engineer Blogger

Was there a time back in the ninth grade that you dreamed of writing the Great American Novel? Did you plan to write something along the lines of "Catcher in the Rye", except there would be all night gaming sessions and X Boxes to bring it up to date? Ok, there were no X Boxes when most people were in ninth grade, but don't all technical people have the secret longing to sit poised over a keyboard, writing cool, precise equations invented by sultry femmes, or dark handsome strangers in exotic locales? In the new millennium it is not only possible to be literary, it is fast becoming a necessity for innovative survival. Welcome to the Age of the Blogger.

For those who don't know, blogs are online journals that present daily, if not hourly updates on everything under the sun. During the recent California recall election anyone who did not read Internet political blogs was hopelessly out of touch. Online blogs present the world as it evolves, allowing readers to crystallize opinions on any subject. Politics is one important example where reporters probably influenced public opinion simply by what they reported from minute to minute, and what they ignored.

So technical folks don't have journalism degrees and write for the San Francisco Chronicle. Even thatundefineds no disadvantage. Blogs are like a nice cozy coffee shop. During the morning the MBAs read their Wall Street Journals and talk mutual funds. In the afternoon the yoga class shares pictures of their kids and drinks frutti-tutti frappaccinos. At night all the gamers snort caffeine and post on what "X Men" movies really mean. And if the coffee shop serves as a metaphor for a wide spectrum of blogs, reality has transcended art by allowing bloggers to imagine they're sitting in Starbucks with their blogger buddies and actually do it, thanks to the Wireless Fidelity Revolution. Wi Fi allows you to facilitate 802.11b access to the Internet and post away, whether you're at Starbucks in Portland, a truck stop diner in Nebraska, or eating a Big Mac in Ann Arbor, Michigan. You wonundefinedt actually be in the same space/time continuum as your buddies, but you'll be on the same wavelength.

How does this fit in for the WSD crowd? Do you post or do you read? For people who want to get their ideas around and maybe have someone email them that they're nuts, blogging couldn't be easier. Just go to www.blogger.com and for free you can set up your very own blog. Google supplies very reliable software to publish to your own FTP with your own web address. What makes blogs especially sweet is that you can publish any time, from any place. There's no need to run home and post on your own computer when inspiration strikes. What should you post? The sky's the limit - just make sure what you write is for general consumption, since the most successful blogs are read by a huge range of people. Don't be surprised who reads what you post. I've had people I haven't heard from in twenty years tell me they read my blog on fusion energy, and do I know what's going on in Minnesota concerning heavy water?

Remember that all posts are date and time stamped so it makes sense to archive them once a week. A free Atomz search engine can be added that indexes at the end of the week. Keep posts short; add a title to every single one, and place hyperlinked words or phrases at the end of a post. Graphs, equations, and diagrams can be added as a separate file and posted as a link. Keep things simple and clear so that team members for a team blog can come in and post with ease. Proprietary team blogs, which operate within a company, may be the next big thing for solving technical problems and allowing an atmosphere for lightning fast creative exchanges. It's easy to keep things confidential if you simply click "private" instead of "public" when you set up the blog.

Don't let the blogger train pass you by. If you don't create your own blog, at least keep up to date by checking out several blogs a day. The latest ideas are out there, and minute-by-minute intellectual excitement. - C.B.

Please share your thoughts about this viewpoint piece with our readers by posting your responses on the PlanetEE Forums page (see below) or by contacting the editor at: mailto:jblyler@penton.com PlanetEE Forum page --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BCIN0AZ ChuckSez --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhS0AC Blogger --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhT0AD Atomz --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhU0AE

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2. "Off The Cuff" Column 

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Is Blogging a Threat to Technology Journalism? By John Blyler, Executive Editor

One of the on-going debates taking place on-line (and off) is whether blogging constitutes a form of journalism? A weblog, or "blog" for short, is an online diary that typically features daily postings on a variety of topics. Subject matter ranges from the blogger's daily activities to more journalistic-like topics, such as politic, news events and technology. The later is what upsets many professional journalists, since bloggers are typically ordinary people with no resources - such as editors - to check and validate the accuracy of their material. On the other hand, proponents of blogging as journalism note that "experts" often write blogs in their fields of expertise. In addition, these advocates observe that technology articles in the edited, mainstream press often contain at least a few technical errors.

A growing number of technically competent bloggers are showing up on the Internet. For example, more and more engineers are creating their own public weblogs, like Chuck Bennett's Chucksez.com (see today's viewpoint piece). Paula Porter of Design News recently wrote an informative on-line article about engineering blogs, which covered Chuck's site in more detail (see links below).

As blogs run by engineers and other technical professionals gain in popularity, the whole landscape of the blogging community may change. Instead of blogging vs. Journalism it may become blogging vs. Engineering. This would be an ironic twist, since the very first blog was created by techie Rob Malda, of Slashdot.com fame, back in the mid-90's.

How do you feel about blogs? Do you think blogs by technology experts are more accurate than on-line or print publications, like WSD magazine? If so, how does one gauge the expertise of a blogger? Finally, do you know of technical people who maintain weblogs? (Send me a list and I'll include them in the next e-Newsletter).

Please share your responses with our on-line community by posting on the PlanetEE forum [Select Forum from the top menu, then select "Wireless Systems Design"] or by contacting me; mailto:j.blyler@penton.com PlanetEE Forums --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BCIN0AZ

Related links Design News --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhV0AF Slashdot --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhW0AG

<><><><><><><><><><><>ADVERTISEMENT<><><><><><><><><><><> 

Wireless Systems Design (WSD) Conference San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA March 8 - 10, 2004 WSD Conference --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn07MC0AA

The WSD'04 - now at its NEW location - examines the development of wireless systems from a true system-level through detailed hardware and software design.

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3. News 

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WPA's Little Secret

[From the Wi-Fi Networking News] Just like its predecessor, the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) has a weakness: poorly chosen short human-readable passphrases can be cracked with a robust dictionary attack offline and without access to the network. Robert Moskowitz, the senior technical director of TruSecure Corp.'s ICSA Labs, has written a paper that describes a weakness in the interface design for WPA-equipped access points and adapters. In short, this weakness allows text-based WPA keys to be broken through no fault in the WPA protocol. For a summary of Robert's paper, visit Glenn Fleishman's Wi-Fi Networking News weblog. ICSA Labs --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn08kV0Ay TruSecure Corp --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhX0AH Wi-Fi Networking News --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhY0AI

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4. News 

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3D Gaming Content Now on Mobile Devices

Superscape Group plc, developers of Swerve technology for the creation and delivery of interactive 3D applications on mobile devices, just announced the development of the Swerve extension for QUALCOMM's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) platform. The Swerve extension for the BREW platform will provide BREW developers with the ability to quickly and easily create interactive 3D applications to integrate with other BREW-based services. One of the first examples of the Swerve extension being used for a BREW- based application is "S.W.A.T. The Movie: 3D Game", a new title published by Sony Pictures Mobile. Based on the action-packed motion picture, S.W.A.T., the game will be available early next year. Players will have the opportunity to choose from seven different missions which can be downloaded wirelessly to their mobile device. Superscape --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhZ0AJ Qualcomm --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BCIR0Ad

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5. News 

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Online Resource for Wi-Fi and Broadband

JIWIRE, Inc. (pronounced: j-EYE-wire) recently unveiled its new site dedicated to demystifying Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies for mobile professionals and wireless enthusiasts. Combining the world's largest hotspot directory of 11,000 locations in 27 countries with practical "how to" guides and product reviews, JIWIRE provides its users with all the information they need in one place to leverage emerging wireless technologies including Wi-Fi, 3G, and Bluetooth. Their international hotspot directory lets wireless users zero in on an exact address and view nearby hotspots as close as a single mile, displayed graphically on a map and listed by nearest location. Jiwire --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDha0AQ

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6. News 

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WLAN Integrated in Hp Print Server

Atmel Corp.announced recently that a custom WLAN module design, based on Atmel's USB 802.11b Media Access Controller, was released to production by HP. This module will extend Wi-Fi capabilities to HP print servers. The HP Jetdirect 380x print server helps enable sharing of a broad range of network-capable HP printers and multi-function peripherals across 802.11b wireless networks. The Atmel design, done specifically for HP, utilizes the RF Micro Devices, Inc. radio front end and is one of the highest performing USB 802.11b module solutions available today. This design win represents Atmel's second embedded Wi-Fi design win at HP. The first design win, announced November 18, 2002 was for an embedded USB module into the HP iPAQ Pocket PC H5400 series. Atmel --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn07cy0AQ HP --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0Gwa0Ac RF Micro Devices --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BB760Aq

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7. New Books 

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Handbook of RF and Wireless Technologies Edited by: Farid Dowla Publisher: Elsevier ISBN 0-7506-7695-7 Pages: 600

Under the guidance of the editor, expert contributors drawn from the ranks of academia and industry have authored chapters in such areas as third-generation wireless, wireless sensor networks, RF power amplifiers, spread spectrum modulation, signal propagation, antennas and other key subjects that engineers working in RF and wireless need to be familiar with. Expert contributors include authors from such prestigious places as: Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Analog VLSI Labs, Ember Corporation, and Universities Research Depts. Elsevier --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhb0AR

Real 802.11 Security: Wi-Fi Protected Access and 802.11i Authors: Jon Edney and William A. Arbaugh Publisher: Addison Wesley Professional ISBN: 0-321-13620-9 Pages: 480

Real 802.11 Security addresses the theory, implementations, and reality of Wi-Fi security. It provides an overview of security issues, explains how security works in Wi-Fi networks, and explores various security and authentication protocols. The book concludes with an in-depth discussion of real-world security issues and attack tools. Written by two experts in wireless security, this book shows you how to stay informed and aware when making security decisions, and what steps you can take to implement the most effective, proactive wireless security now and in the future. Addison-Wesley --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDZj0AL

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8. In-Depth Coverage Links 

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To Achieve Low Power And High Quality Of Results, Keep A Watch On Signal Integrity, Power Dissipation, And Power Distribution. To learn more, read: "Analyze And Optimize Throughout The Flow" http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhc0AS

By Overcoming Its Reliability, Performance, And Flash-Management Issues, Multi-Level-Cell Technology Promises To Shrink Die Sizes. To learn more, read: "MLC Challenges Mobile-Entry Barriers" http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhd0AT

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Your product or technology could be seen in this e-newsletter! Each week tens-of- thousands of engineering professionals look to our email newsletters to help them keep current, do their jobs, and make informed purchasing decisions. For advertising information, call Craig Roth at 1-201-393-6060, x6225 or send email to mailto:croth@penton.com

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9. Happenings 

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Intern. Symposium on Microelectronics (IMAPS) Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA November 16-20, 2003 http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BAe80Ad

Software Defined Radio (SDR) Conference November 17-19, 2003 Disney's Contemporary Resort, Orlando, Florida http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BCtB0A5

Bluetooth Americas Conference co-located with Ultra-Wideband Americas December 9-11, 2003 San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, CA, USA http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhe0AU

Portland's ITEC Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR December 10-11, 2003 http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BDhf0AV

Wireless Systems Design Conference & Expo San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA March 8-10, 2004 http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn07al0AB

Read past issues of Wireless Systems Design UPDATE e-Newsletter: http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eda30CWyaL0Emn0BBfz0Al

WIRELESS SYSTEMS DESIGN UPDATE e-NEWSLETTER CONTACTS

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Executive Editor: John Blyler mailto:jblyler@penton.com

Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunities: Craig Roth, mailto:croth@penton.com

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