Engineering Seminar Topics and Seminar Topics

Bluetooth is a radio standard primarily designed for low power consumption, with a short range (power class dependent: 1 meter, 10 meters, 100 meters) and with a low-cost transceiver microchip in each device.

Bluetooth lets these devices communicate with each other when they come in range, even if they are not in the same room, as long as they are within up to 100 meters of each other, dependent on the power class of the product.:

Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs), also known as IEEE 802.15.1. Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers and digital cameras via a secure, low-cost, globally available short range radio frequency.

The name Bluetooth was born from the 10th century king of Denmark, King Harold Bluetooth (whose surname is sometimes written as Bluetooh), who engaged in diplomacy which led warring parties to negotiate with each other. The inventors of the Bluetooth technology thought this a fitting name for their technology which allowed different devices to talk to each other

Bluetooth applications
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* Wireless networking between desktops and laptops, or desktops in a confined space and where little bandwidth is required
* Bluetooth peripherals such as printers, mice, keyboards and digital pens.
* Bluetooth cell phones have been sold in large numbers, and are able to connect to computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), certain automobile handsfree systems and various other devices. The standard also includes support for more powerful, longer-range devices suitable for constructing wireless LANs.
* Transfer of files (images, mp3s, etc) between mobile phones, Personal digital assistants (PDAs) and computers via OBEX
* Certain mp3 players and digital cameras to transfer files to and from computers
* Bluetooth headsets for mobile phones and smartphones
* Some testing equipment is Bluetooth enabled
* Some medical applications are under development
* Certain GPS receivers transfer NMEA data via Bluetooth
* Bluetooth car kits — In 2002 Audi, with the Audi A8, was the first motor vehicle manufacturer to install Bluetooth technology in a car, enabling the passenger to use a wireless in-car phone. Later, BMW added it as an option on its 3 Series, 5 Series, 7 Series and X5 vehicles. Since then, other manufacturers have followed suit, with many vehicles, including the 2004 Toyota Prius and the 2004 Lexus LS 430. The Bluetooth car kits allow users with Bluetooth-equipped cell phones to make use of some of the phone’s features, such as making calls, while the phone itself can be left in a suitcase or in the boot/trunk, for instance. Companies like Parrot or Motorola manufacture Bluetooth hands-free car kits for well-known brand car manufacturers.
* Certain data logging equipment transmits data to a computer via Bluetooth.
* For remote controls where infrared was traditionally used.
* Hearing aids — Starkey Laboratories have created a device to plug into some hearing aids [2]
* A number of unscrupulous advertising firms in the greater Los Angeles area debuted Bluetooth-enabled billboards along roads and highways, broadcasting advertisements to passing motorists’ Bluetooth-enabled cellular phones or PDAs, much to the motorists’ annoyance. [3]
* Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s Playstation 3 will use Bluetooth technology for its wireless controllers. Also Hip Gear has already released a Bluetooth controller for the Xbox.
* Newer model Zoll Defibrilators for the purpose of transmitting Defibrilation Data and Patient Monitoring/ECG data between the unit and a reporting PC using Zoll Rescue Net software.
* The upcoming LEGO Mindstorms NXT will use Bluetooth as an alternative way to receive programs from the computer.

Fiber Optics is a significant technology used in many different areas of communications. With the explosion of the internet, fiber optics can readily provide the capacity of data that is transmitted with its gigabit speeds. As more breakthroughs in technology occur, it will spread to every aspect of the industry. Telephones, Fax Machines, Radios, Television Broadcasting, and even satellites use this highly reliable light wave technology. The telecommunications industry receives the most benefits from fiber optics. It allows for the transmission of audio, video, and data information in high quality.

Fiber optics uses light pulses directed down a tiny glass fiber in order to relay information. Two different types of fibers are in use today, single mode, and multimode. Each of these types of fibers are made of three different parts, the core, the cladding, and the buffer. While singlemode and multimode fibers are composed of the same components, they do still differ.

Singlemode fibers are significantly smaller than multimode fibers. The core of the fiber is the most crucial part of any fiber. In the core is where the light signals themselves travel through. Because of how easily light r

Fiber optics use light rather than electricity to transmit data. In a fiber optic system, electricity is converted into light by a LED (Light-Emitting Diode) or laser and sent down a run of fiber optic cabling. While in the cable, the light bounces off an inner metallic shield called cladding. This cladding keeps the light contained along the fiber optic strand. On the other end of the fiber optic run, a receiver converts the light signal back into electricity.

The Global Positioning System, usually called GPS, is the only fully-functional satellite navigation system. A constellation of more than two dozen GPS satellites broadcasts precise timing signals by radio to GPS receivers, allowing them to accurately determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude) in any weather, day or night, anywhere on Earth.

United States Department of Defense developed the system, officially named NAVSTAR GPS (Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging GPS), and the satellite constellation is managed by the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base. Although the cost of maintaining the system is approximately US$400 million per year, including the replacement of aging satellites, GPS is available for free use in civilian applications as a public good.

GPS has become a vital global utility, indispensable for modern navigation on land, sea, and air around the world, as well as an important tool for map-making, and land surveying. GPS also provides an extremely precise time reference, required for telecommunications and some scientific research, including the study of earthquakes.

In late 2005, the first in a series of next-generation GPS satellites was added to the constellation, offering several new capabilities, including a second civilian GPS signal called L2C for enhanced accuracy and reliability. In the coming years, additional next-generation satellites will increase coverage of L2C and add a third and fourth civilian signal to the system, as well as advanced military capabilities.

The Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS), available since August 2000, increases the accuracy of GPS signals to within 2 meters (6 ft) [1] for compatible receivers. GPS accuracy can be improved further, to about 1 cm (half an inch) over short distances, using techniques such as Differential GPS (DGPS).

Global Positioning System) A satellite-based radio navigation system run by the U.S. Department of Defense. It was designed so that signals from at least four satellites would be on the horizon at all times, which is sufficient to compute the current latitude, longitude and elevation of a GPS receiver anywhere on earth to within a few meters. The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978.

In six different orbits approximately 12,500 miles above the earth, the system’s 24 MEO satellites circle the earth every 12 hours. The satellites do nothing more than constantly transmit their current time based on atomic clocks and current location. A monitoring network on the ground tracks the satellites and uplinks data for synchronization. The system uses four frequencies in the L-band from 1.2 to 1.6GHz .

Whether installed in vehicles or carried by hand, a GPS receiver calculates the distance to the satellites by comparing the times the transmitted signals were sent with the times they were received. By knowing the precise locations of the satellites at a given moment, the receiver uses triangulation, the navigation technique of ship captains for centuries, to pinpoint its own location.

Virtual Reality (VR), system that enables one or more users to move and react in a computer-simulated environment. Various types of devices allow users to sense and manipulate virtual objects much as they would real objects. This natural style of interaction gives participants the feeling of being immersed in the simulated world. Virtual worlds are created by mathematical models and computer programs.

Nanotechnology comprises technological developments on the nanometer scale, usually 0.1 to 100 nm (1/1,000 µm, or 1/1,000,000 mm). The term has sometimes been applied to microscopic technology. Nanotechnology is any technology which exploits phenomena and structures that can only occur at the nanometer scale, which is the scale of several atoms and small molecules.

The science of developing materials at the atomic and molecular level in order to imbue them with special electrical and chemical properties. Nanotechnology, which deals with devices typically less than 100 nanometers in size, is expected to make a significant contribution to the fields of computer storage, semiconductors, biotechnology, manufacturing and energy.

Envisioned are all kinds of amazing products, including extraordinarily tiny computers that are very powerful, building materials that withstand earthquakes, advanced systems for drug delivery and custom-tailored pharmaceuticals as well as the elimination of invasive surgery, because repairs can be made from within the body.