Computing desk
< June 24	<< May \| June \| Jul >>	June 26 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

June 25

Are Communications protocols languages too?

Is calling them "protocol" just a kind of convention, or even a misnomer? Couldn't we talk about "communication languages" and "programming languages"? That would reflect the analogy between both (as they say, " protocols are to communications as programming languages are to computations"). If they are not, what would they need to be a language?--Yppieyei (talk) 06:57, 25 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I think the difference is that formal language theory has no concept of a conversation. A protocol is not just a set of valid sentences and their meanings (a language) but also a set of rules about which sentences can be replies to which other sentences. -- BenRG (talk) 07:43, 25 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Correct. It would be improper to refer to a communication protocol as a language. It is more proper to refer to the protocol as a set of rules that contain a language. 199.15.144.250 (talk) 13:35, 25 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

What's the model number of Xiaomi's latest router?

What's the model number of Xiaomi's latest router[1]? Officially they're just calling it the MiWiFi, which isn't very helpful since that's the exact same name they gave the previous router, so when I google "Xiaomi MiWiFi how to install openwrt" it's all tutorials about the previous version. Is there a model number with which I can differentiate the new router? For the previous model it was "R1D". My other car is a cadr (talk) 15:08, 25 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Probably the most meaningful way to distinguish the new router is via the chipset (Broadcom 4709C) and FCC ID (most devices have one). Perhaps also the unique feature (6TB). Nil Einne (talk) 01:54, 26 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much for the help. My other car is a cadr (talk) 15:15, 26 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]