<s>
A	O
personal	B-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
(	O
PAN	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
computer	B-Architecture
network	I-Architecture
for	O
interconnecting	O
electronic	O
devices	O
within	O
an	O
individual	O
person	O
's	O
workspace	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
PAN	O
provides	O
data	O
transmission	O
among	O
devices	O
such	O
as	O
computers	O
,	O
smartphones	B-Application
,	O
tablets	B-Device
and	O
personal	B-Application
digital	I-Application
assistants	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
PANs	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
communication	O
among	O
the	O
personal	O
devices	O
themselves	O
,	O
or	O
for	O
connecting	O
to	O
a	O
higher	O
level	O
network	O
and	O
the	O
Internet	O
where	O
one	O
master	O
device	O
takes	O
up	O
the	O
role	O
as	O
gateway	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
PAN	O
may	O
be	O
wireless	O
or	O
carried	O
over	O
wired	O
interfaces	O
such	O
as	O
USB	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
personal	I-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
(	O
WPAN	B-General_Concept
)	O
is	O
a	O
PAN	O
carried	O
over	O
a	O
low-powered	O
,	O
short-distance	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
technology	O
such	O
as	O
IrDA	O
,	O
Wireless	O
USB	B-Protocol
,	O
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
or	O
Zigbee	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
reach	O
of	O
a	O
WPAN	B-General_Concept
varies	O
from	O
a	O
few	O
centimeters	O
to	O
a	O
few	O
meters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WPANs	B-General_Concept
specifically	O
tailored	O
for	O
low-power	O
operation	O
of	O
the	O
sensors	O
are	O
sometimes	O
also	O
called	O
low-power	O
personal	B-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
(	O
LPPAN	O
)	O
to	O
better	O
distinguish	O
them	O
from	O
low-power	B-General_Concept
wide-area	I-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
(	O
LPWAN	B-General_Concept
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wired	O
personal	B-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
networks	I-General_Concept
provide	O
short	O
connections	O
between	O
peripherals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Example	O
technologies	O
include	O
USB	B-Protocol
,	O
IEEE	B-Protocol
1394	I-Protocol
and	O
Thunderbolt	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
personal	I-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
(	O
WPAN	B-General_Concept
)	O
is	O
a	O
personal	B-General_Concept
area	I-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
in	O
which	O
the	O
connections	O
are	O
wireless	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IEEE	O
802.15	O
has	O
produced	O
standards	O
for	O
several	O
types	O
of	O
PANs	O
operating	O
in	O
the	O
ISM	B-Algorithm
band	I-Algorithm
including	O
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Infrared	O
Data	O
Association	O
(	O
IrDA	O
)	O
has	O
produced	O
standards	O
for	O
WPANs	B-General_Concept
that	O
operate	O
using	O
infrared	O
communications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
uses	O
short-range	O
radio	O
waves	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Uses	O
in	O
a	O
WPAN	B-General_Concept
include	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
devices	O
such	O
as	O
keyboards	O
,	O
pointing	O
devices	O
,	O
audio	O
headsets	O
,	O
and	O
printers	O
that	O
may	O
connect	O
to	O
smartwatches	B-Application
,	O
cell	O
phones	O
,	O
or	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
WPAN	B-General_Concept
is	O
also	O
called	O
a	O
piconet	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
is	O
composed	O
of	O
up	O
to	O
8	O
active	O
devices	O
in	O
a	O
master-slave	O
relationship	O
(	O
a	O
very	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
additional	O
devices	O
can	O
be	O
connected	O
in	O
"	O
parked	O
"	O
mode	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
device	O
in	O
the	O
piconet	B-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
master	O
,	O
and	O
all	O
other	O
devices	O
are	O
slaves	O
that	O
communicate	O
with	O
the	O
master	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
piconet	B-General_Concept
typically	O
has	O
a	O
range	O
of	O
,	O
although	O
ranges	O
of	O
up	O
to	O
can	O
be	O
reached	O
under	O
ideal	O
circumstances	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Long-range	O
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
routers	O
with	O
augmented	O
antenna	O
arrays	O
connect	O
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
devices	O
up	O
to	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
mesh	B-Architecture
networking	I-Architecture
the	O
range	O
and	O
number	O
of	O
devices	O
is	O
extended	O
by	O
using	O
mesh	B-Architecture
networking	I-Architecture
techniques	O
to	O
relay	O
information	O
from	O
one	O
device	O
to	O
another	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
a	O
network	O
does	O
n't	O
have	O
a	O
master	O
device	O
and	O
may	O
or	O
may	O
not	O
be	O
treated	O
as	O
a	O
WPAN	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Infrared	O
is	O
used	O
in	O
other	O
wireless	O
communications	O
applications	O
,	O
for	O
instance	O
,	O
in	O
remote	B-Protocol
controls	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typical	O
WPAN	B-General_Concept
devices	O
that	O
use	O
IrDA	O
include	O
printers	O
,	O
keyboards	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
serial	B-Protocol
communication	I-Protocol
interfaces	O
.	O
</s>
