different between beacon vs omnidirectional

English

Etymology

From Middle English beken, from Old English b?acn (“sign, signal”), from Proto-West Germanic *baukn, from Proto-Germanic *baukn? (compare West Frisian beaken (“buoy”), Dutch baken (“beacon”), Middle Low German b?ke (“beacon, sign”), German Bake (“traffic sign”), Middle High German bouchen (“sign”)), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *b?eh?u-, *b?eh?- (“to shine”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?bi?k?n/
• Rhymes: -i?k?n

Noun

beacon (plural beacons)

1. A signal fire to notify of the approach of an enemy, or to give any notice, commonly of warning.
   • 1713, John Gay, The Rural Sports

     No flaming beacons cast their blaze afar.

2. (nautical) A signal or conspicuous mark erected on an eminence near the shore, or moored in shoal water, as a guide to mariners.
   1. A post or buoy placed over a shoal or bank to warn vessels of danger; also a signal mark on land. (FM 55-501)
3. A high hill or other easily distinguishable object near the shore which can serve as guidance for seafarers.
4. (figuratively) That which gives notice of danger, or keeps people on the correct path.
5. An electronic device that broadcasts a signal to nearby portable devices, enabling smartphones etc. to perform actions when in physical proximity to the beacon.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• cairn
• leading mark
• navigation aid
• navigation mark
• radar reflector
• sea mark, seamark

Verb

beacon (third-person singular simple present beacons, present participle beaconing, simple past and past participle beaconed)

1. (intransitive) To act as a beacon.
2. (transitive) To give light to, as a beacon; to light up; to illumine.
   • 1801, Thomas Campbell, Lochiel's Warning

     That beacons the darkness of heaven.

3. (transitive) To furnish with a beacon or beacons.

Related terms

• beckon

English

Etymology

omni- +? directional

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: om?ni?dir?ec?tion?al

Adjective

omnidirectional (not comparable)

1. In every direction, especially of a radio system capable of transmitting or receiving signals in all directions, or of a microphone capable of detecting sound from all directions.

   An omnidirectional radio beacon.

2. (physics, electrical engineering) Having a ring-shaped radiation pattern, with equal radiation in all azimuthal directions.
   • 2004, Harold Davis, Absolute Beginner's Guide to Wi-Fi Wireless Networking, Que Publishing ?ISBN, page 227

     The radiation pattern of an omnidirectional antenna looks like a doughnut, with the antenna in the center of the doughnut, as depicted in Figure 17.1.

Usage notes

Because true omnidirectionality is impossible for individual antennas, omnidirectional is generally used in electrical engineering contexts to refer to antennas that can receive signals in all directions in the azimuthal plane. In these contexts, a hypothetical antenna that radiates in all directions equally is called isotropic.

Antonyms

• unidirectional

Translations

See also

• isotropic

References