Wireless communication is the transfer of information over a distance without the use of enhanced electrical conductors or "
wires".The distances involved may be short (a few meters as in television remote control) or long (thousands or millions of kilometers for radio communications). When the context is clear, the term is often shortened to "wireless". Wireless communication is generally considered to be a branch of
telecommunications.
Introduction
Handheld wireless radios such as this Maritime VHF radio transceiver use electromagnetic waves to implement a form of wireless communications technology.
Wireless operations permits services, such as long range communications, that are impossible or impractical to implement with the use of wires. The term is commonly used in the telecommunications industry to refer to telecommunications systems (e.g. radio transmitters and receivers, remote controls, computer networks, network terminals, etc.) which use some form of energy (e.g.
radio frequency (RF),
infrared light,
laser light, visible light, acoustic energy, etc.) to transfer information without the use of wires. Information is transferred in this manner over both short and long distances.
Wireless communication
- Professional LMR (Land Mobile Radio) and SMR (Specialized Mobile Radio) typically used by business, industrial and Public Safety entities.
- Consumer Two Way Radio including FRS (Family Radio Service), GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) and Citizens band ("CB") radios.
- The Amateur Radio Service (Ham radio).
- Consumer and professional Marine VHF radios.
- Cellular telephones and pagers: provide connectivity for portable and mobile applications, both personal and business.
- Global Positioning System (GPS): allows drivers of cars and trucks, captains of boats and ships, and pilots of aircraft to ascertain their location anywhere on earth.
- Cordless computer peripherals: the cordless mouse is a common example; keyboards and printers can also be linked to a computer via wireless.
- Cordless telephone sets: these are limited-range devices, not to be confused with cell phones.
- Satellite television: allows viewers in almost any location to select from hundreds of channels.
- Wireless gaming: new gaming consoles allow players to interact and play in the same game regardless of whether they are playing on different consoles. Players can chat, send text messages as well as record sound and send it to their friends. Controllers also use wireless technology. They do not have any cords but they can send the information from what is being pressed on the controller to the main console which then processes this information and makes it happen in the game. All of these steps are completed in milliseconds.
Wireless networking (i.e. the various types of unlicensed 2.4 GHz WiFi devices) is used to meet many needs. Perhaps the most common use is to connect laptop users who travel from location to location. Another common use is for mobile networks that connect via satellite. A wireless transmission method is a logical choice to network a LAN segment that must frequently change locations. The following situations justify the use of wireless technology:
- To span a distance beyond the capabilities of typical cabling,
- To provide a backup communications link in case of normal network failure,
- To link portable or temporary workstations,
- To overcome situations where normal cabling is difficult or financially impractical, or
- To remotely connect mobile users or networks.
Wireless communication can be via:
The term "wireless" should not be confused with the term "
cordless", which is generally used to refer to powered electrical or electronic devices that are able to operate from a portable power source (e.g. a battery pack) without any cable or cord to limit the mobility of the cordless device through a connection to the mains power supply. Some cordless devices, such as cordless telephones, are also wireless in the sense that information is transferred from the cordless telephone to the telephone's base unit via some type of wireless
communications link. This has caused some disparity in the usage of the term "cordless", for example in
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications.
In the last fifty years, wireless communications industry experienced drastic changes driven by many technology innovations
History
Photophone
Radio
The term "wireless" came into public use to refer to a radio receiver or
transceiver (a dual purpose receiver and transmitter device), establishing its usage in the field of wireless telegraphy early on; now the term is used to describe modern wireless connections such as in cellular networks and wireless broadband Internet. It is also used in a general sense to refer to any type of operation that is implemented without the use of wires, such as "wireless remote control" or "wireless energy transfer", regardless of the specific technology (e.g.
radio,
infrared,
ultrasonic) that is used to accomplish the operation. While
Guglielmo Marconi and
Karl Ferdinand Braun were awarded the 1909
Nobel Prize for Physics for their contribution to wireless telegraphy, it has only been of recent years that
Nikola Tesla has been formally recognized as the true father and inventor of
radio.
Early wireless work
David E. Hughes, eight years before Hertz's experiments, transmitted radio signals over a few hundred yards by means of a clockwork keyed transmitter. As this was before Maxwell work was understood, Hughes' contemporaries dismissed his achievement as mere "Induction". In 1885,
T. A. Edison used a vibrator magnet for induction transmission. In 1888, Edison deploys a system of signaling on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. In 1891, Edison obtained the wireless patent for this method using inductance (
U.S. Patent 465,971).
In the
history of wireless technology, the demonstration of the theory of
electromagnetic waves by
Heinrich Hertz in 1888 was important.The theory of electromagnetic waves were predicted from the research of
James Clerk Maxwell and
Michael Faraday. Hertz demonstrated that electromagnetic waves could be
transmitted and caused to travel through space at straight lines and that they were able to be
received by an experimental apparatus. The experiments were not followed up by Hertz.
Jagadish Chandra Bose around this time developed an early wireless detection device and help increase the knowledge of millimeter length electromagnetic waves.. Practical applications of wireless radio communication and radio remote control technology were implemented by later inventors, such as
Nikola Tesla.
The electromagnetic spectrum
Light, colors, AM and FM radio, and electronic devices make use of the electromagnetic spectrum. In the US, the frequencies that are available for use for communication are treated as a public resource and are regulated by the
Federal Communications Commission. This determines which frequency ranges can be used for what purpose and by whom. In the absence of such control or alternative arrangements such as a privatized electromagnetic spectrum, chaos might result if, for example, airlines didn't have specific frequencies to work under and an
amateur radio operator was interfering with the pilot's ability to land an
airplane. Wireless communication spans the spectrum from 9 kHz to 300 GHz. (Also see
Spectrum management)
Applications of wireless technology
Security systems
Wireless technology may supplement or replace hard wired implementations in security systems for homes or office buildings.
Television remote control
Modern televisions use wireless (generally infrared) remote control units. Now radio waves are also used.
Cellular telephone (phones and modems)
Perhaps the best known example of wireless technology is the
cellular telephone and
modems. These instruments use radio waves to enable the operator to make phone calls from many locations worldwide. They can be used anywhere that there is a cellular telephone site to house the equipment that is required to transmit and receive the signal that is used to transfer both voice and data to and from these instruments.
WiFi
Wi-Fi is a wireless LAN technology that enables laptop PCs, PDAs, and other devices to connect easily to the internet. Technically known as
IEEE 802.11 a,b,g,n, Wi-Fi is less expensive and nearing the speeds of standard Ethernet and other common wire-based LAN technologies. Several Wi-Fi hot spots have been popular over the past few years. Some businesses charge customers a monthly fee for service, while others have begun offering it for free in an effort to increase the sales of their goods.
Wireless energy transfer
Wireless energy transfer is a process whereby electrical energy is transmitted from a power source to an electrical load that does not have a built-in power source, without the use of interconnecting wires.
Computer Interface Devices
Answering the call of customers frustrated with cord clutter, many manufactures of computer peripherals turned to wireless technology to satisfy their consumer base. Originally these units used bulky, highly limited transceivers to mediate between a computer and a keyboard and mouse, however more recent generations have used small, high quality devices, some even incorporating
Bluetooth. These systems have become so ubiquitous that some users have begun complaining about a lack of wired peripherals. Wireless devices tend to have a slightly slower response time than their wired counterparts, however the gap is decreasing. Initial concerns about the security of wireless keyboards have also been addressed with the maturation of the technology.
Many scientists have complained that wireless technology interferes with their experiments, forcing them to use less optimal peripherals because the optimum one is not available in a wired version. This has become especially prevalent among scientists who use
trackballsas the number of models in production steadily decreases.
source: Wikipedia
