Project Risks Identified

Although we feel that DIS is an ideal solution for inventory tracking and locating, no new technology arrives without its share of risks.

With the buzz in earlier years of cell phone interference with hospital equipment, hospitals banned the use of cell phones in their facilities. Although a possible risk could have been interference with the 802.15.4 wireless technology with hospital equipment, many technology providers have already started implementing 802.11b technology in life-critical hospital equipment. 802.15.4 technology uses a much lower range of power than 802.11b.

IEEE 802.15.4 has the possibility of interfering with other wireless networks. We do not feel that to be a problem as the 802.15.4 specification calls for interoperability with other wireless networks.

IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee (the protocol stack to be used with 802.15.4) is currently finishing development. The possibility exists that there could be unknown issues with the specification and/or the ZigBee protocol that may not be discovered until the technology becomes frequently used.