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Wireless communications: overview & applications

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Course overview

1. Principles of wireless communication 2. Fixed wireless 3. Wireless LAN 4. Neighbourhood telepoint systems 5. Cellular systems 6. Satellite systems

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

History

1896: Guglielmo Marconi

First demonstration of wireless telegraphy Built on work of Maxwell and Hertz to send and receive Morse Code Long wave (>> 1 km) transmission, high transmitting power necessary (>200 kW)

1907
Commercial transatlantic connections Huge base stations (30 100m high antennas) Beginning of the end for cable-based telegraphy

1920: Marconi discovers shortwave (<100 m) radio

Longwaves follow contour of land high transmit power Shortwaves reflect, refract, and bounce off ionosphere
Higher
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Very

frequencies made possible by vacuum tube (1906) Cheaper, smaller, better quality transmitters

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Electromagnetic waves

Electricity can be static

Like what holds a balloon to the wall or makes your hair stand on end

Magnetism can also be static

Like a refrigerator magnet

But when they change or move together, they make waves - electromagnetic waves Radio waves, television waves, and microwaves are all types of electromagnetic waves
They only differ from each other in wavelength and frequency
2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

Electromagnetic waves

Electromagnetic radiation is normally considered to consist of a sine wave which has the properties of
Wavelength and frequency Amplitude

900 MHz for example corresponds to a wavelength of approximately 33 cm

Frequency=

velocity wavelength

Velocity = 300 000 km/s

wavelength
2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

amplitude

position

Antenna

Converts time-varying voltage to time-varying propagating electromagnetic field OR Converts time-varying propagating electromagnetic field to time-varying voltage

Propagating electromagnetic field proportional to time varying voltage

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

Time varying voltage

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Transmitting information by modulating a carrier

Baseband information (e.g. voice signal) is superimposed on high frequency carrier Information is carried by introducing variations in this carrier signal

RF Carrier

~
Binary data Demodulation Binary data

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Electromagnetic spectrum

Electromagnetic waves do not require a medium, per se

Radio waves can travel through a vacuum, for example, outer space Mechanical waves (e.g. sound waves), on the other hand, require the presence of a material medium in order to transport their energy from one location to another Frequency f 30 300 Hz 3 30 kHz 30 300 kHz 300 3000 kHz 3 30 MHz 30 300 MHz 300 3000 MHz 3 30 GHz
2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Wavelength 10000 1000 km 100 10 km 10 1 km 1000 100 m 100 10 m 10 1 m 100 10 cm 10 1 cm 10 1 mm 1 0.1 mm

Band ELF VLF LF MF HF VHF UHF SHF EHF Microwaves Mm-waves

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Radio waves

30 300 GHz 300 3000 GHz

1. Principles of wireless communication

Frequency bands behaviour

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The atmosphere surrounding the earth attenuates and refracts radio signals
How much depends on the frequency As a general rule, the lower the frequency, the less the attenuation, or loss of signal

Below 300 kHz radio waves follow the curvature of the earth for great distances.
This type of propagation is called a ground wave Radio communications over distances up to several thousand kilometres are possible

Above 300 kHz to about 30 MHz, the ionosphere will sometimes reflect and/or refract the radio signals
When returned to earth, they are received hundreds or even thousands of miles away
1. Principles of wireless communication
2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

This type of propagation is called sky waves

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Frequency bands behaviour

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In rural areas, VHF signals have the best range because they tend to follow the curvature of the earth UHF and 800/900 MHz bands are general most suited for urban usage
More bandwidth is available at these higher frequencies Smaller range makes frequency reuse possible used in cellular systems

Microwave transmissions operate in the 2-40 GHz range

Microwaves can be used for highly directional transmission Long-haul telecommunications, in the TV and radio broadcasting, satellite and space communications, and even for specialized LANs
2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

Free space propagation

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Attenuation of received radio wave in free space (Pr ~ 1/d2)

Free space propagation
0 -5

Relative received power (dB)

-10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 -45

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21

31

41

51

61

71

81

91

101

Distance d (km)

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Attenuation in mobile propagation paths

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Received signal loss does not decrease with the square of the distance, but with higer exponent values
Decay with distance d-n (n=2..4)
0 -10 -20

relative received power (dB)

-30 -40
n=2 n=4

-50 -60 -70 -80

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

-90 1 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 101

distance (km)

1. Principles of wireless communication

Antenna directivity

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Ability of an antenna to
Focus energy in a particular direction when transmitting Receive energy better from a particular direction when receiving

Directional antennas focus energy in a particular direction As the frequencies go higher and the wavelengths get shorter, antennas can more easily focus the energy

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Multipath propagation

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At high frequencies, the radio propagation resembles the propagation of light

reflections direct path (line-of-sight)

Reflected Total

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1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Wavelength @ 900 MHz: 30 cm

Direct

Typical signal in a channel with fading

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Diversity may be used to overcome adverse effects of fading

E.g. space diversity: two antennas separated by at least half a wavelength

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Multiple access schemes

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Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) power

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) power

time

time

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

frequency

frequency

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Multiple access

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Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

Example of spread spectrum communication

power

time

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

frequency

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Modes of transmission

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Simplex = messages go in one direction only (e.g. pagers) Half duplex = two way transmission but only one direction at a time (e.g., push to talk radios) Full duplex = two way simultaneous transmission (e.g. cellular phones)

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Full duplex transmission methods

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Frequency division duplex (FDD) Time division duplex (TDD)

Data must be digitized (no analog voice) Guard times must be used to account for variable propagation delays Asymmetric allocations possible Power density FDD Power density TDD

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

uplink
1. Principles of wireless communication

downlink

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

frequency

time

Standardisation bodies

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Worldwide
ITU International Telecommunications Union

Europe
ETSI European telecommunications Standardisation Institute

Belgium
BIPT Belgian Institute of Postal services and Telecommunications

IEEE

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

BIPT - Frequency management

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Managing the Belgian radio-electric spectrum Ensuring the correct application of the various international agreements signed by Belgium concerning the use of the electro-magnetic spectrum
Co-ordination of works with a series of international entities
ARFA

(NATO), UIT-R, ERC, ...

Exclusive allocation frequencies and common, collective and temporary allocations in band 29.7 at 960 MHz for fixed service and terrestrial mobile service Co-ordination of the frequencies
for satellite links (terrestrial stations, networks, etc.) as well as by hertzian beams
2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Management of the maritime mobile service frequencies

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

Mobile wireless

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Wireless versus Mobile

Both terms tend to be used interchangeably, but are not the same Fixed wireless

Mobility
Network needs to know where the users are located Degrees of mobility
Cordless Cellular

phones have low mobility

have higher mobility

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Wireless systems

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Cordless systems
Low power, low mobility (low range and low speed) Provide higher quality of speech than cellular systems, up to that achieved with fixed networks Cordless standards primarily offer an access technology rather than fully specified networks

Cellular systems
High mobility (high speed and wide-range coverage), two-way voice communications
Transmitter power generally on the order of 100 times that of cordless telephones

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication

2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

Mobility - Throughput paradigm

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Mobility Satellite systems (chapter 6)

Global

Rural

Cellular systems (chapter 5) Cordless systems (chapter 4)

Urban Indoor Wireless LAN (chapter 3) 10Mb/s

Fixed wireless (chapter 2)

100Mb/s throughput
2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

10kb/s 100k/s
2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1Mb/s

1. Principles of wireless communication

Wireless technologies overview

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PAN
Personal Area Network Bluetooth

LAN
Local Area Network 802.11b 802.11a 802.11g

MAN
Metropolitan Area Network 802.11 MMDS LMDS

WAN
Wide Area Network GSM GPRS UMTS

Low data rates Short distances

Higher rates Medium distances

Higher rates Med-longer distances

Lower rates Longer distances

Cable replacement
<1 Mbps
2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

(Inter)network connectivity
2 to 54+ Mbps

Fixed, last mile access

22+ Mbps

PDA devices and handhelds

10 to 384 kbps
2001, Telindus High-Tech Institute

1. Principles of wireless communication