High Frequency Design From March 2004 High Frequency Electronics Copyright © 2004 Summit Technical Media, LLC TUTORIAL What is a “Personal Area Network” (PAN)? ew terminology an entire house or a set of offices, but not nec- Here are some notes on the appears regular- essarily the entire building. PAN is then a meaning of Personal Area Nly in the high- room-size network covering an individual’s Network (PAN), a growing tech arena, and wireless work area or a work group. segment of the wireless communications is no communications market exception. One of the Definition by Bandwidth recent additions is PAN, Although there are exceptions, it is valid to or Personal Area Network. This note attempts divide WAN, LAN (and WLAN) and PAN by to explain this term with the hope that it will the data rate, or bandwidth. In general, a see consistent and meaningful usage in busi- WAN is a maximum-rate system using ness and technical dialogue. Gigabit Ethernet or fiber optics for 1 to 40 Gbps transmission. LAN is then the common Networks Can be Defined by Distance 10/100 Mbps Ethernet, and WLAN primarily The most commonly-used terms for data the IEEE 802.11a/b/g system with 2 to 54 communication networks are WAN (Wide Mbps rates. Although PAN is less well- Area Network) and LAN (Local Area defined, it includes lower data systems like Network), with WLAN (Wireless Local Area Bluetooth. However, the first consumer uses of Network) being a specific subset of LAN. Ultra Wideband (UWB) will have PAN-type Distance is the main difference—LAN is gen- range with very high data rates (e.g. sufficient erally considered to be a distinct group, such for high-definition television). as the offices of a small company, or a single building in a large company. WAN refers to a Definition by Usage larger area of service, such as a corporate First, WAN is a regional backbone, part of campus or a set of office buildings scattered a high-use network. LAN and WLAN are around a community. In the wireless realm, mainly used for file-sharing and Internet WAN may mean a citywide or regional wire- access routing. less network, usually in the context of a point- As noted above, PAN has two branches to-multipoint system, or perhaps a mesh or ad (perhaps they will eventually get separate hoc network that extends the reach of 802.11 names!). The lower data rate systems are for WLAN to a larger area. control and access to a larger system, typical- At present, PAN refers exclusively to wire- ly the user’s personal computer or cell phone. less communications, both radio and optical, Uses include wireless audio, keyboards, mice so it is best compared and contrasted to and inter-system (PC-cell phone) data links. WLAN. WLAN has a range from zero to hun- High data rate PAN will typically be used for dreds of feet in normal use, although longer household video and audio distribution, simi- range can be obtained when necessary. In lar to using a LAN or WLAN for routing terms of distance, PAN is usually considered Internet connections. to have a range in the tens of feet, with some Hopefully, when distance-based and band- references citing 10 meters (~33 feet) as the width guidelines are combined with the typical range for their specific PAN hardware. intended use of each network, we can get a In general, WLAN can be defined as covering better sense of the distinctions between them. 42 High Frequency Electronics.