Wireless Personal Area Network
- Formal
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A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network used for data transmission among devices such as computers, telephones and personal digital assistants.
- Practical
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WPAN works much like a standard personal area network (PAN) except that it uses a wireless communication medium instead of a wired connection. Typically, the devices in WPAN include peripheral and hand-held devices such as PDAs, smart phones and tablet PCs. A WPAN's range depends on the wireless router's capabilities, access point or the device itself, but it is usually restricted to a house or small office. WPAN can be created using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, infrared, Z-wave or any similar wireless technologies. In some cases, one of the Internet enabled/powered devices acts as an access point and provides network and Internet access to other devices.