TransferJet: “Touch & Get” Wireless Technology

Group 7

Stephen Baker, Celeste Merriott, Amy Moudy, Caitlyn Shoemake

Key Words: Throughput Rate; TransferJet Consortium; Dongle; Electrical Induction Field Coupler.

TransferJet is the new competitor for today’s Bluetooth technology. TransferJet is a close proximity wireless technology that allows for the transfer of large files between electronic devices at very high speeds (Criswell, 2008). It surpasses the bandwidth of a USB connection, which utilizes wires (Sony, 2008) and due to the close proximity of the electronic equipment, data security is a minimal issue. Data transfer will occur in tens of seconds, greatly improving worker productivity and customer satisfaction because it operates at 4.48GHz (Anderson, 2008). The technology was developed by Sony, who is working with other companies such as Canon, Kodak, Nikon, Pioneer, and Toshiba in what has been dubbed the “TransferJet Consortium” to develop other products that are compatible with TransferJet (Menon, 2008).

Sony’s development of such close proximity wireless technology competes in a straight line with wireless USB and Bluetooth 3.0 technology (Anderson, 2008). The biggest competitive advantage of TransferJet’s technology is the speed at which large amounts of data can be transferred. It operates at a rate of 560Mbps. However, even when error corrections and protocol overheads are added into the transmission, TransferJet still has a transmission rate of 375Mbps (Criswell, 2008). To put this rate into perspective, an entire DVD could be transferred in about 100 seconds (Menon, 2008) and a gigabyte of photos could be downloaded in less than three seconds (Anderson, 2008). The technology is able to select the correct data transfer rate based on the wireless environment. It will preserve the highest level of connectivity if the transmission environment deteriorates robotically dropping the transmission rate (Criswell, 2008). Sony has been developing TransferJet since 2005, and in recent times began creating chips small enough to be placed inside a dongle (Menon, 2008).

This high speed of wireless transfer is made possible by the close proximity of the devices partaking in the data transfer. Devices must be within three centimeters of each other, or essentially touching each other. This short transfer distance is an excellent security measure because it lowers the likelihood of “electronic eavesdropping,” (Sony, 2008). Data leakage is minimal, as well as the risk of unauthorized access since TransferJet can be set up to connect only to specific devices (Menon, 2008). Its technology has a security advantage over Bluetooth because it has such a higher throughput rate and cannot be intercepted by other devices. Bluetooth signals are not encrypted and are susceptible to unauthorized access by other Bluetooth devices (Sony, 2008). Also, it can maintain the performance of a connection by changing the data transmission rate even though the connection level has declined (Menon, 2008). Furthermore, TransferJet uses extremely low-intensity radio waves so there little or no interference with other wireless devices that might be in the area. There no effect on performance even if more than one user uses a TransferJet connection at the same time (Criswell, 2008).

TransferJet technology is very closely related to the already well known Bluetooth technology and is definitely Bluetooth’s greatest competition. One of TransferJet’s greatest advantages however, is that it can operate at a much higher throughput rate without the security concerns encountered in Bluetooth connections (Sony, 2008). TransferJet will be automatic and button free whereas Bluetooth often requires set up for each use. (Anderson, 2008)

TransferJet utilizes a “touch and get” technology (Criswell, 2008) that makes it extremely simple to use. Simply touching two authorized devices together allows the data to be automatically transferred. This would mean that a person could simply hold a digital camera to a television monitor and the photos would immediately show up on the screen. There are no complex procedures required for the setup of wireless systems already present. TransferJet can be setup so that it only responds to authorized devices in a household or business which prevents unwanted reception of data from those that are not authorized to send it (Criswell, 2008).

TranferJet technology will have a major impact on households everywhere. Due to the ease of use and high speed of data transfer, families will be able to have instant slideshows downloaded straight from their digital cameras or cell phones. Users can immediately transfer pictures from a digital camera to a personal computer by placing the camera on top of the PC, saving time and energy. Once the technology has been integrated into cell phones, people can send anything from ringtones, to pictures, to videos automatically, instantly, and securely. Parents can limit which devices may send data to their children’s electronic devices because TransferJet allows users to register only the devices that are authorized to send data, something that Bluetooth technology does not allow.

Business will see many benefits from this emerging technology as well. Employees will be able to store huge amounts of data and quickly share the data with everyone in a room. Employees can give a PowerPoint presentation by saving the presentation to a TransferJet device and instantly begin the presentation just by placing the device on top of the computer that is connected to the projector. Workers can share files instantly instead of sending attachments in e-mails which can contain viruses and take up space on the organizations network. As with households, organizations can set restrictions on their electronic devices that use the technology so that files can only be shared with other employees of the organization, thus protecting confidential corporate and customer information.

Sony has spent its money well with the development of TransferJet and it is safe to say that Bluetooth may soon be replaced by TransferJet technology because of its security, simplicity, and speed. Because it is so easy to set up TransferJet products and use them in a household, consumers will see higher level of satisfaction when transferring their everyday files to different electronic devices. Organizations will see greater productivity in their employees as well as find it easier to transfer their files using this technology. Last, but perhaps most important, the close proximity wireless technology exceeds the bandwidth of USB connections, as well as minimizes the threat of data leakage and electronic eavesdropping. This amounts to a level of security yet to be found in almost every other method of data transfer in today’s technology. Sony hopes to have a commercial line of products available in 2009 (Menon, 2008).

References

Menon, A. (2008, August) Touch Me to Transfer Data. Retrieved November 19, 2008, from

http://thefutureofthings.com/news/1290/touch-me-to-transfer-data.html

Anderson, N. (2008, January) Sony’s “TransferJet” to take on Bluetooth 3.0. Retrieved November 18, 2008, from

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080107-sonys-transferjet-to-take-on-bluetooth.html

Sony (2008, January) Sony’s Wireless Transfer Jet. Retrieved November 18, 2008, from

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200801/08-002E/index.html

Criswell, C. (2008, January) Sony Develops New Close Proximity Wireless Transfer Technology “TransferJet”. Retrieved November 19, 2008,

http://wi-fi-wireless-networking.suite101.com/article.cfm/sonys_wireless_transfer_jet

1. What technology is TransferJet a competitor for?

a. Modern Airplanes

b. Bluetooth

c. Cars

d. E-mail

2. What is the biggest competitive advantage of TransferJet?

a. Speed

b. Size

c. Price

d. Availability

3. Who is responsible for the development of TransferJet?

a. Toyota

b. Boeing

c. Sony

d. Microsoft

4. How close must devices be to transfer data?

a. 1 mile

b. 150 feet

c. 35 inches

d. 3 centimeters

5. When do makers hope to have TransferJet’s commercial line of products available?

a. A release date hasn’t been set

b. They are currently available

c. In 2012

d. In 2009