A portable data terminal (PDT) is an

electronic device Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other electrically charged particles. It is a subfield of physics and ...

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 or barcode scanner is an optical scanner that can read printed barcodes and send the data they contain to computer. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens, and a light sensor for translating optical impul ...

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 or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

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

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

application hosted on a server or

mainframe computer A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise ...

.List o
Bitpipe
whitepapers on wireless device management. Boundaries among PDA,

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

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. Most have at least one data collection function, e.g. a

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

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...

reader.

Uses

Many people including police officers, soldiers, and office workers use it to store data on a long-term scale as it is portable.

References

Computer terminals Mobile computers {{tech-stub

Uses

See also

References