Last Updated on March 22, 2021 by Filip Poutintsev
Wireless technology allows the user to interact with two or more systems over a distance. It operates without the use of cables or wires of any type. It includes communications with the help of Infrared (IR) waves and radio frequency (RF). Wireless technology has always been ahead of wired technology and is generally more costly. It has provided an extra benefit of portability. It allows granting the user to send and receive information while traveling.
To date, wireless technologies enclose various kinds of high-tech communication devices. Some of the wireless devices include baby monitors, garage openers, cellular phones, and walkie talkies. It also incorporates transmission services like satellite communication, point-to-point microwave links, and wireless internet service. Wireless technology also encompasses the broadcast communication like direct broadcast satellite, television and radio.
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History of Wireless Technology
The origin of wireless technologies is attributed to the discovery of electromagnetic waves by Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894). The first commercial Radio Frequency communication device, the wireless telegraph, was invented by Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937). It was made almost 50 years after the invention of commercial wired telegraph services by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1832. In 1990, Marconi transmitted a radio signal to a mobile receiver on ships. He was the first person who did anything of this sort.
The Wireless Revolution
The beginning of the 1990s brought a wireless revolution. It began with the emergence of the digital wireless network that leads to a social turn. There was a shift from wired to wireless technologies. It includes the spread of commercial wireless technologies like mobile phones, wireless computer networks, laptops, cellular networks, the internet, and pagers. The advancement in wireless technology is driven by microwave engineering and radiofrequency. It allowed an increase in voice traffic along with the transmission of digital data which includes images, text messages, and streaming media.
Wireless Gadgets
Some of the common examples of wireless device are:
- Ultrared and Infrared remote-control appliances.
- Professional Specialized mobile radio (SMR) and Land Mobile Radio (LMR).
- The Amateur Radio Service (Ham radio).
- Consumer and professional Marine VHF radios.
- Cordless telephones: They are restricted range devices; they are different than cellular phones.
- Radio navigation and Airband gadgets are used by air traffic control and aviators.
- Global Positioning System (GPS): It allows the drivers of motorbike, trucks, cars, captain of boats and ship, pilots of airplanes to discover their location from anywhere on earth.
- Pagers and Cellular Telephones: It provides both business and personal connectivity for mobile and portable applications.
- Satellite television that uses direct-broadcast satellites in geostationary orbit. Typical services use direct broadcast satellite to provide multiple television channels to the viewers.
- Cordless computer parts: The cordless mouse, cordless keyboards, wireless headphones are printers that employ wireless technology such as Bluetooth or wireless USB.
What is Wireless Communication?
Wireless communication is the most vital and growing technological area in the field of communication. It is a process of conveying information between two-point wirelessly- without any wires, physical medium, or cables.
In a wireless communication system, information is sent from the transmitter to the receiver which is also known as wireless transmission. Both are placed at a distance. A wireless communication system allows the transmitter and the receiver to be placed anywhere between a few meters to a few miles.
In this growing world, high speed wireless communication is an integral part of our lives. A few of the communication devices that operate wirelessly are GPS receivers, Bluetooth devices, Mobile phones, Wi-Fi, Remote controls, etc.
There are three kinds of wireless communication: Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN).
- WWANs are designed using mobile phone signals. They are generally maintained and protected by cellular service providers. It allows you to stay in touch even when other forms of network access are not available.
- WLAN is a form of a wireless network that uses radio waves. The center network generally uses cables, with few access points that connect the wired users to the wired networks. Its range can be in any place from a single room to an entire building.
- WPAN is a network that uses Bluetooth technology and has a shorter range. They are used to connect well-matched devices near the main location. It has a range of about 30 feet.
Latest Wireless Technologies
A lot of advancements are expected in the upcoming decades that will steer the mobile operator and enterprise IT structure in 2020 and beyond.
Mobile Edge Computing
Mobile Edge computing was pretty famous in the starting. They are now beginning to multiply as the supplier offers new products and assistance offerings. A few examples of cases where mobile edge computing is used are oil and gas monitoring, remote video processing, traffic management, and manufacturing monitoring and analytics.
5G Dynamic Spectrum Sharing
Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) is a new kind of technology. It allows cellular service providers to offer 5G and 4G services on the same band of spectrum. It enables the mobile operators to speedily respond to bandwidth demands by assigning spectrum on various services on their network. DSS needs a software upgrade to both the 5G and the radio access network (RAN).
Open Radio Access Network (RAN)
The shift to 5G technology needs operators to employ several new base stations to deliver high-speed bandwidth and geographical coverage with low latency.
Citizen Broadband Radio Services (CBRS)
Citizen Broadband Radio Services (CBRS) is an emerging wireless network trend. It is a reassigned band of unlicensed spectrum cleared for commercial use not long ago. It enables businesses to manage the quality of service and guarantees the security of the applications and devices.
Wireless Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN)
The Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) ensures traffic management across a variety of applications and multiple WAN links. It assures wireless data services to integrate into a hybrid WAN service strategy to improve reliability. 4G and 5G gives organizations the option to transfer to wireless-only WAN connectivity, particularly for smaller branch offices and mobile locations.
The Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi remains the most favorite and dominant way of connecting various PCs, tablets, laptops, and phones in businesses. Wi-Fi, also known as 802.11ax, is the modern upgrade form of the revered Wi-Fi standard. It provided better performance and control of the Quality of Services for essential applications. It expands the number of devices that can concurrently connect to a single Wi-Fi access point. It also adds aspects to enhance the battery life of IoT devices.
The Application of Wireless Technology
The applications of wireless technology continue to grow and appear on the view.
- Wireless mouse and computer, wireless headphones and speakers, and wireless sensors are now conveniently available in the market.
- Like broadcast radio and point-to-point microwave links, wireless devices and applications are getting increasingly common.
- Wireless technology is also used to provide chances of communication in places where it is difficult to run cables, in addition to wired communication, for emergency employment and mobile communication.
- Bluetooth is a new wireless technology that replaces the cable system. It allows the devices to be connected to any appliance or machine. For example, a camera to the computer, or an audio device to the Internet. A few of the examples of Bluetooth appliances include laptops, cordless telephones, and other devices.
- Wireless technology can also be categorized based on data applications or voice or mobility- stationary, fixed, mobile, and portable. Few examples of voice applications employing wireless technology are cordless and cellular telephones.
- The use of satellites for voice communication is another application of wireless technology.
- Wireless technology is also employed in data applications like pagers.
- It is also used in the field of medicines. One of the examples is Mobile Body Area Network (MBAN). It can measure heart rate, body temperature, oxygen level, and blood pressure. It operates by transmitting low powered wireless signals to receivers that feed into monitoring sites and nursing stations.
