No market segment experiences innovation cycles as short as that of the peripheral area of PCs. A wide variety of communication protocols are being used around the computer, making it possible for computers to communicate with each other and with different peripheral units.

Requirements for these networks are immense as increasing amounts of digitized voice and data need to be transmitted over long distances and across the systems of different providers. Furthermore, the number of multimedia services is on the rise: fast internet accesses, video-on-demand or multi-channel video, multi player games as well as TV, data and voice services.

All these applications are channeled through the same networks simultaneously, reaching the individual user through a single set-top-box, and having to be distributed efficiently within a house or apartment. Only then is it possible to access a variety of services simultaneously.

The widespread access to the internet not only increases the desire to use higher transmission rates, but also the exchange of multimedia data in real-time using worldwide distributed applications.

In particular, our computer communication know-how covers the areas of:

• Ethernet (10-Base-T, 100-Base-T, 1000-Base-T)
• FireWire (also referred to as IEEE 1394)
• USB (Universal Serial Bus)
• IrDA (Infrared Data Association)