nges on the ability of the ZigBee Alliance to deliver a final specification in a timely manner, including com- pleted, successful interoperability tests. If these milestones are not achieved in a reasonable amount of time, other competing wireless technologies could take hold in these markets, such as a yet-to-be-determined low-rate Ultra- Wideband WPAN alternate PHY or a potential Bluetooth "Lite" version. Therefore, there is an impetuous to move forward according to schedule. According to Joyce Putscher, director of In-Stat/MDR's converging markets and technologies group, "the heightened interest in 802.15.4/ZigBee wireless connectivity could slowly make 'The Jetsons' home of the future a reality; however, I doubt we'll see that automated meal maker any time soon." 3.3 WLAN FOR EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS Hotspot technology also promises to help public service, emergency services and rescue workers exchange information and collaborate on tasks more effectively and efficiently. Today, first responders would like to be able to send messages simultane- ously to all the emergency workers at the scene of a disaster if necessary, but lack of interoperability among various types of radio equipment prevents them from doing SO today. In the future, first responders converging on a CONNECTIONS IN THE AIR-WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES disaster scene may be able to quickly and easily exchange emergency messages and data using a wireless ad hoc network recently developed and tested by scientists and engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST's work in this area is part of the federal govern- ment's efforts to improve first responder communications in light of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The network consists of personal digital assistants (PDAs) equipped with WLAN cards. Transmission routes among the PDAs are established auto- matically and without need for networking infrastructure at the emergency site as the first responders arrive on the scene. The network may use any nearby PDA to relay me