Using WiFi to handle baggage is the latest wrinkle at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
After your luggage is tagged with a bar code, it’s put on a conveyer belt and scanned several times by bar code readers until it reaches the right plane. Once loaded, baggage handlers can take an inventory of the bags in the belly of the plane, a difficult task before they got new handheld wireless scanners.
Once the luggage is loaded, the information is compared with the flight’s passenger manifest. If a passenger hasn’t boarded the plane but her bag has, the plane won’t take off an extra security measure put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
That’s not the only application of wireless technology at work at the Toronto airport. The wireless local area network (WLAN) supports airport surveillance, ramp management and wireless communication systems. Airport stores and car rental agencies can even use it for their mobile point of sale systems. There are 274 wireless access points at the airport’s new Terminal 1 alone, including 11 in the nearby parking lot.
With so many users and applications, the GTAA decided to maintain a high level of security by managing the “common-use” WLAN itself. It governs how, when and where airlines and other airport tenants can access the network all the while making sure they don’t have unauthorized access to private information or data that may be considered competitive.
Portland International Airport has another take on WiFi — free internet access for everyone! Other free airport hotspots include the Colorado Springs Airport and Lexington (KY) Bluegrass Airport. WiFi Free Spot has a list of free airport hotspots.
Meanwhile, Amazon.com’s Japanese unit launched a barcode-scanning service this week that lets users take a picture of a product’s barcode with their cameraphone, then look it up on its site to check the price and place an order.
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