An Energy Crunch Worsens
Increasing power demands and tight energy reserves pose a heavy environmental burden, but distributed generation and new storage architectures could lighten the load
January 2001
Computing | Cover Story
Always On: Living in a Networked World
IEEE Spectrum special report
Features
Bursting at the Seams
The Net's exploding growth reveals its flaws--like sluggish last-mile data rates and whimsical wireless delivery--and spotlights key management, security, and regulatory issues
Elements of a Well-Oiled Machine
Building a network requires many individual components, each up to its own task and all running smoothly together
Ethernet's Winning Ways
This cost-saving automation backbone is gaining momentum in the factory
Forecasting Traffic Flow
Intelligent transportation systems in the offing will ease traffic bottlenecks
Fuel Cells for the Long Haul, Batteries for the Spurts
Just as hybrid vehicles are coming to market, an alternative technology—the fuel cell—has moved a good distance from the laboratory to the road
Fueling the Internet
Is the issue quantity or quality of energy?
Getting Tough on Antitrust
As communications and distribution networks are globalized, so too are regulatory issues governing their operations
Gridlocks and Stopgaps
Traveling now means spending more time waiting for the journey to begin (or end). New technologies may help make car and air travel less frustrating. And even fun again...
Harmonizing Data, Setting Standards
Scientists make sense of genomics by linking diverse information sets
Keeping the Net Up
Only toil in the trenches and at the top will keep the Internet up and running
Large Jobs for Little Devices
Minute electromechanical systems could make RF devices smaller, faster, and cheaper
Network Test Starts in the Lab
The myriad elements of a multi-gigabit-speed optical-fiber network must be tested long before the network itself is field tested
Networked Living
Networking has invaded everything from the hospital to the factory floor. But along the way it's sparked lawsuits, standards fights, and a new breed of warfare
Networking Assets
Will distributed generation pan out as a panacea?
No Longer in Denial
Security experts coping with a new form of denial-of-service hacker attack are contemplating ways to change the way the Internet works
Optical Nets Brace for Even Heavier Traffic
While optical fibers are clearly the way to carry long-haul traffic, how best to repave the last mile is harder to figure--it may need optics, minus the fiber
RF Bridges to the Network
Chips that dwell at the boundary between the electronics and the transmission medium and run at network speeds are growing in importance, and so are the tools to design them
Service Takes Over in the Networked World
New products no longer stand alone—they are linked to a variety of networks, and the game is becoming one of service
Simulating Networks
For quick and accurate results, hybrid simulation is becoming the technique of choice
Super Nets for Supercomputers
Over the next few years, networks of supercomputers will begin analyzing petabytes of scientific data faster and more efficiently than ever before
The Car: Just a Web Browser with Tires
Automakers are convinced that what consumers really want in a car is safe Web access, which calls for voice-activated control
The New Chips on the Block
Rapidly expanding network applications and soaring performance requirements need flexible solutions that are powerful enough to handle ever-growing data traffic
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