Wireless Communications

Introduction to Wireless
Communications

Wireless Communications

Suggested Reading
1. T.S. Rappaport, Wireless Communications,
2nd Edition, Pearson Education. 2002.
2. W.C.Y. Lee, Mobile Cellular
Telecommunications, 2nd Edition, McGraw
Hill, 1995.
3. Kamilo Feher, Wireless Digital
Communications: Modulation and Spread
Spectrum Applications, Prentice Hall, 2002.
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Wireless Communications

Wireless Communications
Module 1
Introduction

Wireless Communications

Outline of Module 1

What is Wireless Communications?

History of Wireless Communications
The advantages
The challenges
The types
The Indian factor

Wireless Communications

What is Wireless Communication?

Transmitting/receiving voice and data
using electromagnetic waves in open
space
The information from sender to receiver is carrier
over a well-defined frequency band (channel)
Each channel has a fixed frequency bandwidth and
Capacity (bit-rate)
Different channels can be used to transmit
information in parallel and independently.
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Wireless Communications

Example
Assume a spectrum of 120 KHz is
allocated over a base frequency for
communication between stations A and B
Each channel occupies 40 KHz
Channel 1 (b - b+40)
Station A

Channel 2 (b+40 - b+80)

Channel 3 (b+80 - b+120)

Station B

Wireless Communications

Types of Wireless
Communication
Mobile
Cellular Phones (GSM / CDMA 2000.1x)

Portable
IEEE 802.11b (WiFi),
IEEE 802.15.3 (UWB) (Ultra Wide Band)

Fixed
IEEE 802.16 (Wireless MAN)
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Wireless Communications

Typical Frequencies

FM Radio
TV Broadcast
GSM Phones
GPS
PCS Phones
Bluetooth
WiFi

~ 88 MHz
~ 200 MHz
~ 900 MHz
~ 1.2 GHz
~ 1.8 GHz
~ 2.4 GHz
~ 2.4 GHz
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Wireless Communications

LF
30kHz
10km

MF

300kHz
1km

di
o
TV
ce
llu
l

TV

ar

ra
FM

AM

S/
W

ra
d

ra
d

io

io

The Electromagnetic
Spectrum
VHF

HF
3MHz

30MHz

100m

10m

UHF
300MHz

SHF
3GHz

EHF
30GHz

300GHz

1cm

100mm

10cm

1m

EHF - Extreme High Frequency

SHF - Super High Frequency
UHF - Ultra High Frequency
VHF - Very High Frequency
HF - High Frequency
MF - Medium Frequency
LF - Low Frequency
VLF - Very Low Frequency

X rays

infrared visible UV
1 kHz

1 MHz

1 GHz

1 THz

1 PHz

Gamma rays
1 EHz

Propagation characteristics are different in each frequency band

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Wireless Communications

James Clerk Maxwell (18311879)

Scottish, Professor of physics, Kings College (London) and
Cambridge University. Formulated the theory of
electromagnetism from 1865 to 1873.
B
E
t

H J
D
B 0

D
t

His work established the theoretical foundation for the

development of wireless communications.
"From a very long view of the history of mankind - seen from, say, ten thousand years from now - there
can be little doubt that the most significant event of the 19th century will be judged as Maxwell's
discovery of the laws of electrodynamics. The American Civil War will fade into provincial
insignificance in comparison with this important scientific event of the same decade. "
Richard Feynman, Lectures on Physics, Vol. II
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Wireless Communications

Timeline of Wireless Communications Development . . .

Dave interviews
at Bell Labs for
Mobile Phone
project This
thing isnt going
anywhere.
Prof. H. Hertz (18571894) experimental
validation of Maxwell
1886-1888 at
Karlsruhe

Guglielmo Marconi
(1874-1937)
development of
wireless telegraphy
trans-Atlantic 1901

2003 - US
cellular
subscribers
exceed 150M

Martin Cooper,
Motorola, develops
first handheld cellular
phone in 1973

1920

1860

1880

1900

1940

KDKA Radio -1920

Prof. J. Maxwell
(1831-1879) theory
of
electromagnetism
developed in 1865

1960

1980

Two-way mobile
radio services
1960s 1970s
First television
broadcast
-1928

11

2000

2004 - Indian
cellular
subscribers
exceed 45M

1983 - Cellular
AMPS service
in Chicago

Wireless Communications

Why Wireless Communication?

Freedom from wires
No cost of installing wires or rewiring
No bunches of wires running here and there
Auto magical instantaneous communications without
physical connection setup, e.g., Bluetooth, WiFi

Global Coverage
Communications can reach where wiring is infeasible
or costly, e.g., rural areas, old buildings, battlefield,
vehicles, outer space (through Communication
Satellites)

12

(1)

Wireless Communications

Why Wireless Communication? (2)

Stay Connected
Roaming allows flexibility to stay connected
anywhere and any time
Rapidly growing market attests to public need for
mobility and uninterrupted access

Flexibility
Services reach you wherever you go (Mobility). E.g,
you dont have to go to your lab to check your mail
Connect to multiple devices simultaneously (no
physical connection required)
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Wireless Communications

Why Wireless Communication? (3)

Increasing dependence on
telecommunication services for business
and personal reasons
Consumers and businesses are willing to
pay for it
Basic Mantra: Stay connected
anywhere, anytime.
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Wireless Communications

Challenges (1)
Efficient Hardware
Low power Transmitters, Receivers
Low Power Signal Processing Tools

Efficient use of finite radio spectrum

Cellular frequency reuse, medium access control
protocols,...

Integrated services
voice, data, multimedia over a single network
service differentiation, priorities, resource sharing,...
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Wireless Communications

Multimedia Requirements
Voice

Data

Video

Delay

<100ms

<100ms

Packet Loss
BER

<1%
10-3

0
10-6

<1%
10-6

Data Rate

8-32 Kbps
Continuous

1-100 Mbps
Bursty

Traffic

1-20 Mbps
Continuous

One-size-fits-all protocols and design do not work well

Wired networks use this approach, with poor results
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Wireless Communications

Challenges (2)
Network support for user mobility (mobile
scenarios)
location identification, handover,...

Maintaining quality of service over

unreliable links
Connectivity and coverage
(internetworking)
Cost efficiency
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Wireless Communications

Challenges (3)
Fading
Multipath
Higher probability of data corruption
Hence, need for stronger channel codes

Need for stronger Security mechanisms

privacy, authentication,

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Wireless Communications

Wireless vs Mobile
NOTE : Wireless does not necessarily
mean mobile
Wireless Systems may be
Fixed (e.g., Metropolitan Area Network)
Portable (e.g., wireless interaction between TV
and VCR)
Mobile (e.g., mobile phone)
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Wireless Communications

Types of Wireless Communication (1)

Radio Transmission
Easily generated, omni-directionally travel long
distances, easily penetrate buildings
Problems:
frequency-dependent
relative low bandwidth for data communication
tightly licensed by the governments

Microwave Transmission
Widely used for long distance communication
Gives a high S/N ratio, relatively inexpensive
Problems:
dont pass through buildings well
weather and frequency-dependent
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Wireless Communications

Types of Wireless Communication (2)

Infrared and Millimeter Waves
Widely used for short-range communication
Unable to pass through solid objects
Used for indoor wireless LANs, not for outdoors

Lightwave Transmission
Unguided optical signal, such as laser
Connect two LANs in two buildings via laser
mounted on their roof
Unidirectional, easy to install, dont require license
Problems:
unable to penetrate rain or thick fog
laser beam can be easily diverted by turbulent air
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Wireless Communications

Wireless Systems : Range Comparison

1m

IR

10 m

100 m

Bluetooth

1 Km

WLANs

10 Km

100 Km

1,000 Km

Mobile
MW SW
Satellite
FM
Telephony, Radio Radio Radio Links
WLL

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Wireless Communications

Growth : Technology take-up time to

50M users
Telephone
75 years
Radio
35 years
TV
13 years
Wireless Communications
12 years
Mobile Phones in India
10 years
Internet
4 years
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Wireless Communications

User Growth
1,000
Fixed access

M illion subscribers

800

600

Mobile access

400

200

Fixed and
mobile Internet

Mobile Internet

1996

1998

2000
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2002

2004

Wireless Communications

Traffic Growth
Traffic
150
Internet access
125
100
75

Voice

50
25
0

1998

1999

2000
25

2001

Wireless Communications

The Indian Affordability factor (1)

India has > 1 billion people and 180 million
households
Today, India has more mobile phones (~ 50 million)
than fixed line phones (~ 45 million)
Landline Phones:
Cost Rs 30,000 to install per line
Monthly revenue should be Rs. 1,000 for
economic viability.
Not affordable by more than 3% of the households
unless we have a cheap solution!

Need to go wireless in order to increase

tele-density.
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Wireless Communications

The Indian Affordability factor (2)

India's mobile-phone industry is adding about 1.5
million new users a month (mostly in the cities).
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
predicts that there will be 150 million mobile
subscribers by 2007.
Declining prices for mobile-phone handsets will
likely keep sales rising into the future.
Mobile handset costs could drop to around Rs.
1,500 from Rs. 2,500, if local companies start to
manufacture the handsets.

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Wireless Communications

The Indian Affordability factor (3)

Because of India's large geography, wireless is the
fastest and cheapest way to expand telecom
networks.
A large cellular subscriber base will give telecom
carriers the economies of scale to run sustainable
businesses.
The next big milestone in the Indian
telecommunications industry is the broadband
connectivity.
According to TRAI, India's broadband penetration
rate today is a negligible 0.02%.
The government aims to have 5 million broadband
users by 2007.
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Wireless Communications

A Simplified Wireless Communication

System Representation
Antenna

Information to
be transmitted
(Voice/Data)

Coding

Modulator

Power
Amplifier

Carrier

Information
received
(Voice/Data)

Decoding

Demodulator
Carrier

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Antenna

LNA

Wireless Communications

Summary of Lecture 1
What is Wireless Communications
A brief history of Wireless
Communications
The advantages and the challenges
The various types of Wireless
Communications
The Indian Affordability factor

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Wireless Communications

End of Module 1

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Wireless Communications

Wireless Communications
Module 2
Introduction to Current
Wireless Systems
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Wireless Communications

Outline of Module 2
Existing Wireless Systems
Emerging Wireless Systems
Spectrum Regulations and Standards
Bodies

33

Wireless Communications

Current Wireless Systems

Cellular Systems
Wireless LANs
Satellite Systems
Paging Systems
Wireless PANs (bluetooth, UWB)

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Wireless Communications

1. Cellular Systems
Reuse channels to maximize capacity
Geographic region divided into cells
Frequencies/timeslots/codes reused at spatiallyseparated locations
Base stations/Mobile Telephone Switching Offices
(MTSOs) coordinate handoff and control functions

BASE
STATION

MTSO

Wireless Communications

2. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs)

01011011

0101

1011
Internet
Access
Point

WLANs connect local computers

(100m range <= confined regions)
Breaks data into packets
Channel access is shared (random access)
Backbone Internet provides best-effort service
Poor performance in some applications (e.g. video)
Low mobility
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Wireless Communications

Wireless LAN Standards

Bit rate

Frequency
Band

Range

IEEE 802.11b

5.5 11Mbps

2.4 GHz

~100m

IEEE 802.11a

54 Mbps

5 Ghz

~100m

HiperLAN
(Europe)

20Mbps

5 GHz

~50m

HiperLAN/2

54 Mbps

5 GHz

~50m

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Wireless Communications

3. Satellite Systems (1)

Cover very large areas (global coverage)

Very useful in sparsely populated areas: rural areas, sea,
mountains, etc.

Different orbit heights

GEOs (36000 Km) versus LEOs (2000 Km)

Optimized for one-way transmission

Radio (XM, DAB) and movie (SatTV) broadcasting

Expensive base stations (satellites)

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Wireless Communications

3. Satellite Systems (2)

Limited-quality voice/data transmission
Traditional Applications
Weather satellite
Radio and TV broadcasting
Military satellites

Telecommunication Applications
Global telephone connections
Backbone for global network
GPS

Intelsat, Globalstar, Teledesic, Inmarsat are some

example systems
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Wireless Communications

4. Paging Systems
Broad coverage for short messaging
Message broadcast from all base stations
Simple terminals
Low complexity, very low-power pager (receiver)
devices

Optimized for 1-way transmission

Answer-back hard
Overtaken by cellular

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Wireless Communications

Wide-Area Paging System

Terrestrial Link

City 1
Paging
Terminal
B a s e s ta tio n

T e le p h o n e

City 2
Terrestrial Link

PSTN

Paging Control
Center

Paging
Terminal
B a s e s ta tio n

S a t e llit e

City N
Paging
Terminal
Satellite Link

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B a s e s ta tio n

pager

Wireless Communications

5. Personal Area Networks (PANs)

Bluetooth
Cable replacement RF technology (low cost)
Short range (10m, extendable to 100m)
2.4 GHz band (crowded)
1 Data (700 Kbps) and 3 voice channels
1 Mbps data rate shared between 7 devices
TDD duplex scheme
Polling based multiple access
Widely supported by telecommunications, PC, and
consumer electronics companies

8C32810.61-Cimini-7/98

Wireless Communications

5. PANs (2)

Example of a PAN as provided by the Bluetooth standard.

(Source : T. S. Rappaport, Figure 2.17)
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Wireless Communications

Emerging Wireless Systems

Ad hoc wireless networks

Sensor networks
Distributed control networks
Ultra Wideband (UWB) Systems

44

Wireless Communications

1. Ad-Hoc Networks (1)

Peer-to-peer communications.
No backbone infrastructure.
Routing can be multihop.
Topology is dynamic.
Fully connected with different link SINRs
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Wireless Communications

1. Ad-Hoc Networks (2)

Ad-hoc networks provide a flexible network
infrastructure for many emerging applications.
The capacity of such networks is generally unknown.
Transmission, access, and routing strategies for these
networks are generally ad-hoc.
Cross layer design critical and very challenging.
Energy constraints impose interesting design tradeoffs
for communication and networking.
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Wireless Communications

2. Sensor Networks
Energy is the driving constraint

Nodes powered by non-rechargeable batteries

Data flows to centralized location.
Low per-node rates but up to 100,000 nodes.
Data highly correlated in time and space.
Nodes can cooperate in transmission, reception,
compression, and signal processing.
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Wireless Communications

Distributed Control over Wireless Links. 3

Automated Vehicles
- Cars
- UAVs
- Insect flyers

Packet loss and/or delays impacts controller performance.

Controller design should be robust to network faults.
Joint application and communication network design.
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Wireless Communications

4. Ultra Wide Band Systems (1)

Ultra Wide Band (UWB) is an emerging wireless
communications technology that can transmit data at
around 100 Mb/s (up to 1000 Mb/s).
UWB transmits ultra-low power radio signals with
very narrow pulses (nanosecond).
Because of its low power requirements, UWB is very
difficult to detect (hence secure).

ns
A typical UWB pulse
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Wireless Communications

4. Ultra Wide Band Systems (2)

50

Wireless Communications

4. Ultra Wide Band Systems (3)

Why UWB?

Exceptional multi-path immunity

Low power consumption
Large bandwidth
Secure Communications
Low interference
No need for a license to operate
Next generation communication system

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Wireless Communications

4. Ultra Wide Band Systems (4)

Home
entertainment
UWB PAN

Wearable
computing

52

Wireless
desktop

Wireless Communications

Spectrum Regulation
Worldwide spectrum controlled by ITU-R
ITU auctions spectral blocks for set applications.
Some spectrum set aside for universal use.

Spectral allocation/regulation heavily impacts the evolution

of wireless technology

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Wireless Communications

Standard Bodies
CCIR(Consultative Committee on
International Radio)
study groups for radio spectrum usage and
interworking of wireless systems

Radio Communications Sector ITU-R

(formerly CCIR and IFRB)
world conferences, radio regulations

Telecommunication Standardization Sector

ITU-T (formerly CCITT)
all worldwide wireline and wireless standards
IEEE standards often accepted
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Wireless Communications

Summary of Module 2
Existing Wireless Systems
Emerging Wireless Systems
Spectrum Regulations and Standards
Bodies

55

Wireless Communications

End of Module 2

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