Computer Networks -2

Chapter 16

Wireless Networking Technologies

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

Topics Covered
16.1 Introduction 16.2 A Taxonomy of Wireless Networks 16.3 Personal Area Networks (PANs) 16.4 ISM Wireless Bands Used by LANs and PANs 16.5 Wireless LAN Technologies and Wi-Fi 16.6 Spread Spectrum Techniques 16.7 Other Wireless LAN Standards 16.8 Wireless LAN Architecture 16.9 Overlap, Association, and 802.11 Frame Format 16.10 Coordination Among Access Points 16.11 Contention and Contention-Free Access 16.12 Wireless MAN Technology and WiMax
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 3

Topics Covered
16.13 16.14 16.15 16.16 16.17 16.18 16.19 16.20 PAN Technologies and Standards Other Short-Distance Communication Technologies Wireless WAN Technologies Cell Clusters and Frequency Reuse Generations of Cellular Technologies VSAT Satellite Technology GPS Satellites Software Radio and the Future of Wireless

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

16.1 Introduction
This chapter
describes wireless technologies explains that a myriad of wireless technologies have been proposed

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

16.2 A Taxonomy of Wireless Networks

Wireless communication applies across a wide range of network types and sizes Part of the motivation for variety
government regulations that make specific ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum available for communication

A license is required to operate transmission equipment in some parts of the spectrum

and other parts of the spectrum are unlicensed

Many wireless technologies have been created

and new variants appear continually

Wireless technologies can be classified broadly according to network type The taxonomy in Figure 16.1 illustrates the fact
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 6

16.2 A Taxonomy of Wireless Networks

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

16.3 Personal Area Networks (PANs)

A PAN technology provides communication over a short distance It is intended for use with devices that are owned and operated by a single user. For example
between a wireless headset and a cell phone between a computer and a nearby wireless mouse or keyboard

PAN technologies can be grouped into three categories Figure 16.2 lists the categories, and gives a brief description of each Later sections explain PAN communication in more detail
and list PAN standards

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

16.3 Personal Area Networks (PANs)

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

16.4 ISM Wireless Bands Used by LANs and PANs

A region of electromagnetic spectrum is reserved for use by Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) groups
Known as ISM wireless

The frequencies are not licensed to specific carriers

are broadly available for products, and are used for LANs and PANs

Figure 16.3 (below) illustrates the ISM frequency ranges

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

10

16.5 Wireless LAN Technologies and Wi-Fi

A variety of wireless LAN technologies exist that use
various frequencies modulation techniques and data rates

IEEE provides most of the standards

which are categorized as IEEE 802.11

A group of vendors who build wireless equipment formed the Wi-Fi Alliance
a non-profit organization that tests and certifies wireless equipment using the 802.11 standards

Alliance has received extensive marketing, most consumers associate wireless LANs with the term Wi-Fi Figure 16.4 lists the key IEEE standards that fall under the Wi-Fi Alliance
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 11

16.5 Wireless LAN Technologies and Wi-Fi

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

12

16.6 Spread Spectrum Techniques

The term spread spectrum transmission uses multiple frequencies to send data
the sender spreads data across multiple frequencies the receiver combines the information obtained from multiple frequencies to reproduce the original data

Spread spectrum can be used to achieve one of the following two goals:
Increase overall performance Make transmission more immune to noise

The table in Figure 16.5 summarizes the three key multiplexing techniques used in Wi-Fi wireless networks
Each technique has advantages Thus, when a wireless technology is defined, the designers choose an appropriate multiplexing technique
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 13

16.6 Spread Spectrum Techniques

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

14

16.7 Other Wireless LAN Standards

IEEE has created many wireless networking standards
that handle various types of communication

Each standard specifies

the frequency range the modulation the multiplexing to be used the data rate

Figure 16.6 lists the major standards that have been created or proposed, and gives a brief description of each In 2007, IEEE rolled up many of the existing 802.11 standards into a single document known as 802.11-2007
The document describes basics It has an appendix for each variant
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 15

16.7 Other Wireless LAN Standards

Fig.16.6 Major wireless standards and the purpose of each

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

16

16.8 Wireless LAN Architecture

The three building blocks of a wireless LAN are:
access points (AP)
which are informally called base stations

an interconnection mechanism
such as a switch or router used to connect access points

a set of wireless hosts

also called wireless nodes or wireless stations

In principle, two types of wireless LANs are possible:

Ad hoc
wireless hosts communicate amongst themselves without a base station

Infrastructure based
a wireless host only communicates with an access point, and the access point relays all packets

An organization might deploy AP throughout its buildings Figure 16.7 illustrates a sample architecture
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 17

16.8 Wireless LAN Architecture

Note: The set of computers within range of a given access point is known as a Basic Service Set (BSS)
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 18

16.9 Overlap, Association, and 802.11 Frame Format

Many details can complicate an infrastructure architecture
On one hand, if a pair of APs are too far apart
a dead zone will exist between them a physical location with no wireless connectivity

On the other hand, if a pair of access points is too close together

an overlap will exist in which a wireless host can reach both access points

Most wireless LANs connect to the Internet

Thus, the interconnect mechanism usually has an additional wired connection to an Internet router

Figure 16.8 illustrates the architecture

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

19

16.9 Overlap, Association, and 802.11 Frame Format

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

20

16.9 Overlap, Association, and 802.11 Frame Format

To handle overlap, 802.11 networks require a wireless host to associate with a single AP
That is, a wireless host sends frames to a particular AP Then AP forwards the frames across the network

Figure 16.9 (below) illustrates the 802.11 frame format

the figure shows that when used with an infrastructure architecture the frame carries the MAC address of an AP as well as the address of an Internet router

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

21

16.10 Coordination Among Access Points

To what extent do APs need to coordinate? Many early AP designs were complex The access points coordinated to provide seamless mobility similar to the cellular phone system
That is, the APs communicated amongst themselves to insure smooth handoff as a wireless computer moved from the region to another Some designs measured signal strength and attempted to move a wireless node to a new AP
when the signal received at the new AP exceeded the signal strength at the existing AP

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

22

16.10 Coordination Among Access Points

Some vendors began to offer lower cost, less complex APs that do not coordinate The vendors argue that signal strength does not provide a valid measure of mobility
a mobile computer can handle changing from one AP to another and that the wired infrastructure connecting APs has sufficient capacity to allow more centralized coordination

A less complex AP design is appropriate in situations where an installation consists of a single AP

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

23

16.11 Contention and Contention-Free Access

The original 802.11 standard defined two general approaches for channel access
Point Coordinated Function (PCF) for contention-free service
an AP controls stations in the Basic Service Set (BSS) to insure that transmissions do not interfere with one another

For example, an AP can assign each station a separate frequency

In practice, PCF is never used

Distributed Coordinated Function (DCF) for contention-based service

arranges for each station in a BSS to run a random access protocol

Wireless networks can experience a hidden station problem

where two stations can communicate but a third station can only receive the signal from one of them

802.11 networks use CSMA/CA

which requires a pair to exchange Ready To Send (RTS) and Clear To Send (CTS) messages before transmitting a packet
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 24

16.11 Contention and Contention-Free Access

The 802.11 standard defines three timing parameters as follows: Short Inter-Frame Space (SIFS) of 10 sec
defines how long a receiving station waits before sending an ACK or other response

Distributed Inter-Frame Space (DIFS) of 50 sec

defines how long a channel must be idle before a station can attempt transmission, which is equal to SIFS + two Slot Times

Slot Time of 20 sec Figure 16.10 illustrates how the parameters are used in a packet transmission

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

25

16.11 Contention and Contention-Free Access

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

26

16.11 Contention and Contention-Free Access

Physical separation among stations and electrical noise makes it difficult to distinguish between
weak signals, interference, and collisions

Wi-Fi networks do not employ collision detection

That is, the hardware does not attempt to sense interference during a transmission Instead, a sender waits for an acknowledgement (ACK) message If no ACK arrives, the sender assumes the transmission was lost
and employs a backoff strategy similar to the strategy in wired Ethernet

In practice, 802.11 networks that have few users and do not experience electrical interference seldom need retransmission
However, other 802.11 networks experience frequent packet loss and depend on retransmission
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 27

16.12 Wireless MAN Technology and WiMax

Standardized by IEEE under the category 802.16 A group of companies coined the term (WiMax)
which is interpreted to mean World-wide Interoperability for Microwave Access and they formed WiMAX Forum to promote use of the technology

Two main versions of WiMAX are being developed that differ in their overall approach: Fixed WiMAX
refers to systems built using IEEE 802.16-2004, which is informally called 802.16d the technology does not provide for handoff among access points
designed to provide connections between a service provider and a fixed location
such as a residence or office building, rather than between a provider and a cell phone

Mobile WiMAX
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 28

16.12 Wireless MAN Technology and WiMax

Mobile WiMAX
built according to standard 802.16e-2005, known also as 802.16e the technology offers handoff among APs
which means a mobile WiMAX system can be used with portable devices such as laptop computers or cell phones

WiMAX offers broadband communication that can be used in a variety of ways:

WiMAX can be used as an Internet access technology WiMAX can provide a general-purpose interconnection among physical sites
especially in a city

To be used as backhaul connection between a service provider's central network facility and remote locations
such as cell towers

Figure 16.11 lists a few of the proposed uses

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 29

16.12 Wireless MAN Technology and WiMax

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

30

16.12 Wireless MAN Technology and WiMax

Deployments of WiMAX used for backhaul will have the highest data rates It will use frequencies that require a clear Line-Of-Sight (LOS) between two entities
LOS stations are typically mounted on towers or on tops of buildings

Deployments used for Internet access may use fixed or mobile WiMAX
such deployments usually use frequencies that do not require LOS thus, they are classified as Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS)

Figure 16.12 illustrates the two deployments

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

31

16.12 Wireless MAN Technology and WiMax

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

32

16.12 Wireless MAN Technology and WiMax

The key features of WiMAX can be summarized as follows:
Uses licensed spectrum (i.e., offered by carriers) Each cell can cover a radius of 3 to 10 Km Uses scalable orthogonal FDM Guarantees quality of services (for voice or video) Can transport 70 Mbps in each direction at short distances Provides 10 Mbps over a long distance (10 Km)

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

33

16.13 PAN Technologies and Standards

IEEE has assigned the number 802.15 to PAN standards Several task groups and industry consortia have been formed for each of the key PAN technologies Figure 16.13 (below) lists the major IEEE PAN standards

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

34

16.13 PAN Technologies and Standards

Bluetooth
The IEEE 802.15.1a standard evolved after vendors created Bluetooth technology as a short-distance wireless connection technology

The characteristics of Bluetooth technology are:

Wireless replacement for cables (e.g., headphones or mouse) Uses 2.4 GHz frequency band Short distance (up to 5 meters, with variations that extend the range to 10 or 50 meters) Device is master or slave Master grants permission to slave Data rate is up to 721 Kbps

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

35

16.13 PAN Technologies and Standards

Ultra Wideband (UWB)
The idea behind UWB communication is that spreading data across many frequencies
requires less power to reach the same distance

The key characteristics of UWB are:

Uses wide spectrum of frequencies Consumes very low power Short distance (2 to 10 meters) Signal permeates obstacles such as walls Data rate of 110 at 10 meters, and up to 500 Mbps at 2 meters IEEE unable to resolve disputes and form a single standard

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

36

16.13 PAN Technologies and Standards

Zigbee
The Zigbee standard (802.15.4) arose from a desire to standardize wireless remote control technology
especially for industrial equipment

Because remote control units only send short command

high data rates are not required

The chief characteristics of Zigbee are:

Wireless standard for remote control, not data Target is industry as well as home automation Three frequency bands used (868 MHz, 915 MHz, and 2.4 GHz) Data rate of 20, 40, or 250 Kbps, depending on frequency band Low power consumption Three levels of security being defined

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

37

16.14 Other Short-Distance Communication Technologies

Two other wireless technologies provide communication over short distances, but they are not listed under PANs
InfraRED technologies provide control and low-speed data communications RFID technologies are used with sensors

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

38

16.14 Other Short-Distance Communication Technologies

InfraRED
InfraRED technology is often used in remote controls
and may be used as a cable replacement (e.g., for a wireless mouse)

The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) has produced a set of standards that are widely accepted

The chief characteristics of the IrDA technology are:

Family of standards for various speeds and purposes Practical systems have range of one to several meters Directional transmission with a cone covering 30 Data rates between 2.4 Kbps (control) and 16 Mbps (data) Generally low power consumption with very-low power versions Signal may reflect from surfaces
but cannot penetrate solid objects

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

39

16.14 Other Short-Distance Communication Technologies

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
RFID technology uses an interesting form of wireless communication to create a mechanism A small tag contains identification information
that a receiver can pull from the tag

Some features of RFID:

Over 140 RFID standards exist for a variety of applications Passive RFIDs draw power from the signal sent by the reader Active RFIDs contain a battery
which may last up to 10 years

Limited distance
although active RFIDs extend farther than passive

Can use frequencies from less than 100 MHz to 868-954 MHz Used for
inventory control, sensors, passports, and other applications
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 40

16.15 Wireless WAN Technologies

Wireless WAN technologies can be divided into two categories:
Cellular communication systems Satellite communication systems

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

41

16.15 Wireless WAN Technologies

16.15.1 Cellular Communication Systems
Cellular systems were originally designed to provide voice services to mobile customers
System was designed to interconnect cells to the public telephone

Currently, cellular systems are being used to provide data services and Internet connectivity In terms of architecture
each cell contains a tower a group of (usually adjacent) cells is connected to a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)

The center tracks a mobile user

and manages handoff as the user passes from one cell to another.

Figure 16.14 illustrates how cells might be arranged along a highway

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 42

16.15 Wireless WAN Technologies

16.15.1 Cellular Communication Systems

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

43

16.15 Wireless WAN Technologies

16.15.1 Cellular Communication Systems
When moving between two cells belonging to the same MSC
the switching center handles the change

When a user passes from one geographic region to another

two MSCs are involved in the handoff

Perfect cellular coverage occurs if each cell is a hexagon

because the cells can be arranged in a honeycomb In practice, cellular coverage is imperfect

Most cell towers use omnidirectional antennas

that transmit in a circular pattern obstructions and electrical interference can attenuate a signal or cause an irregular pattern
in some cases, cells overlap and in others, gaps exist with no coverage

Figure 16.15 illustrates ideal and realistic coverage

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 44

16.15 Wireless WAN Technologies

16.15.1 Cellular Communication Systems

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

45

16.15 Wireless WAN Technologies

16.15.1 Cellular Communication Systems
The variability of cell density is possible In rural areas (expected density of cell phones is low)
cell size is large, a single tower is adequate for a large area

In an urban setting (many cell phones in a given area)

For example, consider a city block in a large metropolitan area In addition to pedestrians and people riding in vehicles, such an area can contain office or apartment buildings with many occupants

Designers break a region into many cells to handle more calls

a practical deployment uses various size cells, with smaller cells used to cover metropolitan areas

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

46

16.16 Cell Clusters and Frequency Reuse

Cellular communication follows a key principle:
Interference can be minimized if an adjacent pair of cells do not use the same frequency

To implement the principle

cellular planners employ a cluster approach
in which a small pattern of cells is replicated

Figure 16.16 (below) illustrates clusters of size 3, 4, 7, and 12 that are commonly used

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

47

16.16 Cell Clusters and Frequency Reuse

In geometric terms, each of the shapes in the figure can be used to tile a plane
That is, by replicating the same shape, it is possible to cover an entire area without leaving any gaps

If each cell in a given shape is assigned a unique frequency

the repeated pattern will not assign the same frequency to any pair of adjacent cells

Figure 16.17 illustrates a replication of the 7-cell cluster

(with a letter in each cell to denote the frequency assigned to the cell) each letter corresponds to a particular frequency and each cell within a cluster is assigned a frequency when the cluster pattern is replicated
no adjacent cells share a common frequency

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

48

16.16 Cell Clusters and Frequency Reuse

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

49

16.17 Generations of Cellular Technologies

Telecommunications industry divides cellular technologies into four generations
that are labeled 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G with intermediate versions labeled 2.5G and 3.5G

1G
Began in the late 1970s, and extended through the 1980s Originally called cellular mobile radio telephones
used analog signals to carry voice

2G and 2.5G
Began in the early 1990s and continues to be used The main distinction between 1G and 2G arises
because 2G uses digital signals to carry voice

The label 2.5G is used for systems that extend a 2G system

to include some 3G features

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

50

16.17 Generations of Cellular Technologies

3G and 3.5G
Began in the 2000s Focuses on the addition of higher-speed data services A 3G system offers download rates of 400 Kbps to 2 Mbps, and is intended to support applications such as web browsing and photo sharing 3G allows a single telephone to roam across the world

4G
Began around 2008 Focuses on support for real-time multimedia
such as a television program or high-speed video

They include multiple connection technologies

such as Wi-Fi and satellite at any time, the phone automatically chooses the best connection technology available

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

51

16.17 Generations of Cellular Technologies

A variety of standards have evolved
(many attempted to choose an approach and create a standard) The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrators chose a TDMA technology known as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) In the United States, each carrier created a network with its own technology Motorola invented a TDMA system known as iDEN Most US and Asian carriers adopted a CDMA approach that was standardized as IS-95A Japan created a TDMA technology known as PDC

Figure 16.18 summarizes major 2G standards

and some of the 2.5G standards that evolved

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

52

16.17 Generations of Cellular Technologies

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

53

16.17 Generations of Cellular Technologies

The standards listed in the figure each provide a basic communication mechanism over which many services can operate
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) for Internet access Short Message Service (SMS) is used for texting Wireless Application Service (WAP) is used to access Internet Multimedia Messaging service (MMS) is used for multi-media

GPRS technologies have been further developed that use more sophisticated modulation and multiplexing techniques (to increase data rates)
Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
known as Enchanced GPRS (EGPRS), offers higher transfer rates

EDGE Evolution provides higher rates

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

54

16.17 Generations of Cellular Technologies

Service providers pushed to make technologies interoperable
the industry consolidated many of the approaches from 2G into a few key standards IS-136, PDC, IS-95A, and EDGE all influenced the design of UMTS, a technology that uses Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) IS-95B was extended to produce CDMA 2000, as in Figure 16.19

Several standards evolved for 3G data services

EVDO (Evolution Data Optimized or Evolution Data Only) and EVDV emerged at approximately the same time
They combine CDMA and FDM to increase the overall performance

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) offers download speeds of 14 Mbps

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

55

16.17 Generations of Cellular Technologies

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

56

16.18 VSAT Satellite Technology

Earlier chapters provided some information on satellites
Chapter 7 describes the three types of communication satellites Chapter 14 discusses channel access mechanisms

Here we describe some specific satellite technologies The key to satellite communication is a parabolic antenna
It is known informally as a dish The parabolic shape means that electromagnetic energy arriving from a distant satellite is reflected to a single focus point By aiming the dish at a satellite and placing a detector at the focus point
a designer can guarantee that a strong signal is received

Figure 16.20 illustrates reflection parabolic dish antenna

and shows how incoming energy is reflected from the surface of the dish toward the receiver
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 57

16.18 VSAT Satellite Technology

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

58

16.18 VSAT Satellite Technology

VSAT satellites use three frequency ranges that differ in
the strength of the signal delivered the sensitivity to rain and other atmospheric conditions the area of the earth's surface covered (satellite's footprint)

Figure 16.21 (below) describes the characteristics of each frequency band

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

59

16.19 GPS Satellites

Global Positioning System (GPS) provide accurate time and location information
Location information is increasingly used in mobile networking, location-based services

The key features are:

Accuracy between 2-20 meters
(military ones have higher accuracy)

24 total satellites orbit the earth Satellites arranged in six (6) orbital planes Provides time synchronization
that can be used in some communications

Obtaining position information is straightforward:

All GPS satellites orbit in well-known positions
a receiver can determine a unique location on the earth's surface by finding the distance to three satellites
2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved. 60

16.20 Software Radio and the Future of Wireless

Wireless technologies use special-purpose radio hardware
The antenna, transmitter, and receiver in a given device are designed to operate on predetermined frequencies
using specific forms of modulation and multiplexing

A cell phone that can use GSM, Wi-Fi, and CDMA networks
But it must have three completely separate radio systems, and must choose among them

Traditional radios are being replaced by radios that follow a programmable paradigm
in which features are controlled by software running on a processor

Figure 16.22 lists major radio features that can be controlled in a software programmable radio

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

61

16.20 Software Radio and the Future of Wireless

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

62

16.20 Software Radio and the Future of Wireless

The key technologies that enable software radios are:
Tunable analog filters and multiple antenna management
Analog chips are currently available that provide tunable analog filters

Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) are available to handle signal coding and modulation Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) denotes a system that employs multiple antennas for both transmission and reception Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) and GNU Radio are currently available for experimentation

2009 Pearson Education Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

63