A portable data terminal, or shortly PDT, is an

electronic device The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

that is used to enter or retrieve data via wireless transmission (

WLAN A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus, or office buildin ...

or WWAN). They have also been called enterprise digital assistants (EDA), data capture mobile devices, batch terminals or just portables. They can also serve as

barcode reader A barcode reader is an optical scanner that can read printed barcodes, decode the data contained in the barcode to a computer. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor for translating optical impulses into ...

s, and they are used in large stores, warehouses, hospitals, or in the field, to access a

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases s ...

from a remote location. Others have a touch screen, IrDA, Bluetooth, a memory card slot, or one or more data capture devices. PDT's frequently run wireless device management software that allows them to interact with a

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

application hosted on a server or mainframe computer.List o
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whitepapers on wireless device management. Boundaries among PDA,

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

and EDA can be blurred when comparing the wide array of common features and functions. EDAs attempt to distinguish themselves with a pre-defined requirement for long term constant daily operation (Normally allowing a minimum of 8 hours). They seek a higher than normal impact rating / drop test rating and an ingress protection rating of no less than

IP54 The IP code or ingress protection code indicates how well a device is protected against water and dust. It defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) under the international standard IEC 60529 which classifies and p ...

, Most have at least one Data Collection function i.e. a

Barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...

or RFID Reader etc.

References

Computer terminals Mobile computers {{tech-stub

See also

References