WIRELESS AND MOBILE NETWORKS

(ISN 3110)
LECTURER:
ENGR. JOHNSON U. C.
COURSE OUTLINE

 ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES AND SPECTRA USED IN WIRELESS

COMMUNICATION
 MULTIPLEXING TECHNIQUES
 MODULATION TECHNIQUES
 WIRELESS NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
 WIRELESS NETWORK TECHNOLOGY
 WIRELESS LAN (WIFI) STANDARDS
 MONILE COMMUNICATION
 SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
Electromagnetic waves and
spectra used in Wireless
communication
Electromagnetic waves

 The electromagnetic spectrum covers

electromagnetic waves with frequencies
ranging from below one hertz to above
1025 hertz, corresponding to wavelengths
from thousands of kilometers down to a
fraction of the size of an atomic nucleus.
 beginning at the low frequency (long
wavelength) end of the spectrum these
are: radio waves, microwaves, infrared,
visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma
rays at the high-frequency (short
wavelength) end.
Wave Equation

 Electromagnetic waves are typically described by the following three

physical properties: the frequency f, wavelength λ, or photon energy E.
𝑐 𝐸 ℎ𝑐
 𝑓 = ⋏ 𝑜𝑟 𝑓 = ℎ 𝑜𝑟 𝐸 = ⋋

 Where;

 c = 299792458 m/s is the speed of light in a vacuum

 h = 6.62607015×10−34 J·s = 4.13566733(10)×10−15 eV·s is Planck's constant.
The RF Spectrum

 The radio frequency, or RF, communication at the heart of most wireless

networking operates on the same basic principles as everyday radio and
TV signals.
 The RF section of the electromagnetic spectrum lies between the
frequencies of 9 kHz and 300 GHz, and different bands in the spectrum are
used to deliver different services.
 Recalling that the wavelength and frequency of electromagnetic radiation
are related via the speed of light, so that wavelength (l) =speed of light (c)
/ frequency (f), or wavelength in metres =300 / frequency in MHz.
Subdivision of the radio frequency
spectrum
TRANSMISSION TYPE FREQUENCY WAVELENGTH
Very low frequency 9-30 kHz 33-10 km
(VLF)
Low frequency (LF) 30-300 kHz 10-1 km
Medium frequency 300-3000 kHz 1000-100 m
(MF)
High frequency (HF) 3-30 MHz 100-10 m
Very high frequency 30-300 MHz 10-1 m
(VHF)
Ultra high frequency 300-3000 MHz 1000-100 mm
(UHF)
Super high frequency 3-30 GHz 100-10 mm
(SHF)
Extremely high 30-300GHZ 10-1 mm
frequency (EHF)
Radio wave propagation &
Atmosphere
 The various effects like reflection, refraction, diffraction, etc all come
together in a real way as radio signals propagate through the atmosphere.
The signals are affected by a variety of factors enabling signals to be
detected near and far dependent upon a variety of factors.
 The way that radio signals propagate, or travel from the radio transmitter to
the radio receiver is of great importance when planning a radio
communications network or system.
 In many instances, terrestrial radio propagation is governed to a great
degree by the regions of the atmosphere through which the signals pass.
Without the action of the atmosphere it would not be possible for radio
communications signals to travel around the globe on the short wave
bands, or travel greater than only the line of sight distance at higher
frequencies.
Atmospheric layers

 The atmosphere can be split up into a variety of different layers according

to their properties.
 The lowest area in the meteorological system is referred to as the
Troposphere. This extends to altitudes of around 10km above the Earth's
surface. Above this is the Stratosphere that extends from altitudes around
10 to 50km. Above this at altitudes between 50 and 80 km is the
Mesosphere and above this is the Thermosphere: named because of the
dramatic rise in temperatures here.
Atmospheric layers

 From the viewpoint of radio propagation, there are two main areas of
interest:
 Troposphere: As a very approximate rule of thumb, this area of the
atmosphere tends to affect signals more above 30 MHz or so.
 Ionosphere: The ionosphere is the area that enables signals on the short
wave bands to traverse major distances. It crosses over the meteorological
boundaries and extends from altitudes around 60 km to 700 km. The region
gains its name because the air in this region becomes ionised by radiation
primarily from the sun. Free electrons in this region have affect radio signals
and may be able to refract them back to Earth dependent upon a variety
of factors.
Troposphere

 The lowest of the layers of the atmosphere is called the troposphere. The
troposphere extends from ground level to an altitude of 10 km.
 It is within the tropospheric region that what we term the weather, occurs.
Low clouds occur at altitudes of up to 2 km and medium level clouds
extend to about 4 km. The highest clouds are found at altitudes up to 10 km
whereas modern jet airliners fly above this at altitudes of up to 12 km.
 Within this region of the atmosphere there is generally a steady fall in
temperature with height. This affects radio propagation because it affects
the refractive index of the air. This plays a dominant role in radio signal
propagation and the radio communications applications that use
tropospheric radio-wave propagation. This depends on the temperature,
pressure and humidity. When radio communications signals are affected
this often occurs at altitudes up to 2 km.
The ionosphere

 The ionosphere has a high level of free electrons and ions - hence the name
ionosphere. It is found that the level of electrons sharply increases at altitudes of
around 30 km, but it is not until altitudes of around 60km are reached that the
free electrons are sufficiently dense to significantly affect radio signals.
 The ionization occurs as a result of radiation, mainly from the sun, striking
molecules of air with sufficient energy to release electrons and leave positive
ions.
 Much of the ionization is caused by ultraviolet light. As it reaches the higher
reaches of the atmosphere it will be at its strongest, but as it hits molecules in
there upper reaches where the air is very thin, it will ionize much of the gas. In
doing this, the intensity of the radiation is reduced
 At the lower levels of the ionosphere, the intensity of the ultraviolet light his
much reduced and more penetrating radiation including x-rays and cosmic
rays gives rise to much of the ionization.
Description of ionospheric regions

 D region: The D layer or D region is the lowest of the regions that affects
radio signals. It exists at altitudes between about 60 and 90 km. It is present
during the day when radiation is being received from the sun, but because
of the density of molecules at this altitude, free electrons and ions quickly
recombine after sunset when there is no radiation to retain the ionization
levels. The main effect of the D region is to attenuate signals that pass
through it, although the level of attenuation decreases with increasing
frequency. Accordingly its effects are very obvious on the medium wave
broadcast band - during the day when the D region is present, few signals
are heard beyond that provided by ground wave coverage. At night when
the region is not present, signals are reflected from higher layers and signals
are heard from much further afield.
Description of ionospheric regions

 E region: Above the D region, the next region is the E region or E layer. This
exists at an altitude of between 100 and 125 km. The main effect of this
region is to reflect radio signals although they still undergo some
attenuation.
 F region: The F region or F layer is higher than both the D and E regions and
it the most important region for long distance HF communications. During
the day it often splits into two regions known as the F1 and F2 regions, the F1
layer being the lower of the two.
 Like the D and E regions, the level of ionization for the F region falls at night,
but in view of the much lower air density, the ions and electrons combine
much more slowly and the F layer decays much more slowly. As a result it is
able to support radio communications at night, although changes are
experienced because of the lessening of the ionization levels.
Rf Propagation Mechanism

 Radio frequencies are high frequency alternating current (AC) signals that
are passed along a copper conductor and then radiated into the air via
an antenna. An antenna converts/transforms a wired signal to a wireless
signal and vice versa. When the high frequency AC signal is radiated into
the air, it forms radio waves. These radio waves propagate (move) away
from the source (the antenna) in a straight line in all directions at once.
 Understanding the behavior of these propagated RF waves is an important
part of understanding why and how wireless LANs function.
Wireless coverage

Security Risk
No Coverage

• Overlapping signals provide continuity of coverage

RF behavior

 RF is sometimes referred to as "smoke and mirrors" because RF seems to act

erratically and inconsistently under given circumstances. Things as small as
a connector not being tight enough or a slight impedance mismatch on
the line can cause erratic behavior and undesirable results.
 The types of behaviors and what can happen to radio waves as they are
transmitted are;
 Gain
 Loss
 Reflection
 Refraction
 Diffraction and scattering
Gain

 Gain is term used to describe an increase in RF signal’s amplitude.

Loss

 Resistance of cables and connectors causes loss due to the converting of

the AC signal to heat.
 Impedance mismatches in the cables and connectors can cause power to
be reflected back toward the source, which can cause signal
degradation.
 Objects directly in the propagated wave's transmission path can absorb,
reflect, or destroy RF signals.
 Loss can be intentionally injected into a circuit with an RF attenuator.
Reflection

 Reflection occurs when a propagating electromagnetic wave impinges upon

an object that has very large dimensions when compared to the wavelength of
the propagating wave.
 Reflections occur from the surface of the earth, buildings, walls, and many other
obstacles.
 If the surface is smooth, the reflected signal may remain intact, though there is
some loss due to absorption and scattering of the signal.
Refraction

 Refraction describes the bending of a radio wave as it passes through a

medium of different density.
 Refraction can become a problem for long distance RF links. As atmospheric
conditions change, the RF waves may change direction, diverting the signal
away from the intended target.
Diffraction

 Diffraction occurs when the radio path between the transmitter and
receiver is obstructed by a surface that has sharp irregularities or an
otherwise rough surface.
 At high frequencies, diffraction, like reflection, depends on the geometry of
the obstructing object and the amplitude, phase, and polarization of the
incident wave at the point of diffraction.
 Scattering

 Scattering occurs when the medium through which the wave travels
consists of objects with dimensions that are small compared to the
wavelength of the signal, and the number of obstacles per unit volume is
large.
 Scattered waves are produced by rough surfaces, small objects, or by
other irregularities in the signal path.
Wireless communication multiple
access
 Multiplexing techniques aim to increase transmission efficiency by
transmitting multiple signals or data streams on a single medium.
 The resulting increased capacity can be used either to deliver a higher
data rate to a single user, or to allow multiple users to access the medium
simultaneously without interference.
 User access to the bandwidth can be separated by a numbers of means: in
time (TDMA), in frequency (FDMA or OFDMA), in space (SDMA) or by
assigning users unique codes (CDMA). These methods will be described in
turn in
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

 Time division multiple access (TDMA) allows multiple users to access a single
channel without interference by allocating specific time slots to each user.
 A simple form of TDMA is time division duplex (TDD), where alternate
transmit periods are used for uplink and downlink in a duplex
communication system.
 TDD is used in cordless phone systems to accommodate two-way
communication in a single frequency band.
TDMA and duplexing TDD
Frequency Division Multiple Access
(FDMA)
 In contrast to TDMA, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) provides
each user with a continuous channel that is restricted to a fraction of the
total available bandwidth. This is done by dividing the available bandwidth
into a number of channels that are then allocated to individual users.
 Frequency division duplex (FDD) is simple form of FDMA in which the
available bandwidth is divided into two channels to provide continuous
duplex communication.
 Cellular phone systems such as GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) use FDD to
provide separate uplink and downlink channels, while 1G cellular phone
systems used FDMA to allocate bandwidth to multiple callers
 Frequency Division Multiple Access
(FDMA) and Duplexing (FDD)

 FDMA in practice is used with TDMA or CDMA

Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA)

 Space division multiple access (SDMA) is a technique which aims to multiply

the data throughput of a wireless network by using spatial position as an
additional parameter to control user access to the transmission medium.
 As well as simple sector antennas, smart antenna systems are being
developed which combine an array of antennas with digital signal
processing capabilities in order to achieve spatial control of transmission
and reception.
 Smart antenna systems can adapt their directional characteristics in
response to the signal environment and system demands, and can provide
the basis for SDMA.
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

 CDMA is closely related to DSSS, where a pseudo-noise code is used to

spread a data signal over a wide bandwidth in order to increase its
immunity to interference.
 If two or more transmitters use different, orthogonal pseudo-noise (PN)
codes in DS spread spectrum, they can operate on the same frequency
band and in the same physical area without interfering.
 This is because a correlator using one PN code will not detect a signal
encoded using another orthogonal code, since orthogonal codes by
definition do not correlate with each other.
Walsh code construction

 The property of orthogonality is the basis of CDMA and is used in 3G mobile

telephony to ensure that many users, each assigned a unique orthogonal
access code, can transmit and receive without interference within a single
network cell.