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Introduction to Wireless Communications NORTHERN TELECOM

1.0.0 History of Wireless Communications

Radio can be defined as the transmission or reception of radiated
electromagnetic waves in a defined frequency range. As we alt know, the
primary purpose of radio is to convey information over distance without
wires. The first radios were developed in late I800's. After decades of
technical improvement in transmission and
receiving equipment, radio technology soon
transformed modem culture enabling widespread
commercial radio and television broadcasting.

In the centuries before radio or cellular

communications emerged, many of the scientific
principles upon which they are based were
discovered. It was Sir Isaac Newton who, in 1680,
studied, observed and first suggested the concept of a
spectrum for visible light. In 1831, Michael Faraday
took Newton's theory one step further
Sir Isaac Newton
and demonstrated that light, electricity and
magnetism are all interrelated_

Two critical developments in the history of radio soon followed. In 1864,

James Clerk Maxwell proved mathematically the existence of
electromagnetic waves. Then, in 1877 Heinrich Hertz demonstrated that the
velocity of radio waves was equal to that of light, and developed an apparatus
for generating them.

These discoveries revolutionized the concept of

sound waves. However, it wasn't until 1895 that a
young Italian scientist, Guglielmo
Marconi, convinced that information could be
transmitted over sound waves, invented a
device that could send Morse code signals over
short distances. This device was patented as the
first radio. Marconi continued to improve and
promote the benefits of his invention until his
Guglieimo Marconi death in 1937.

• W.W. I - Radio is
Utilized
Many of Marconi's experiments with radio in
the early 1900's were centered around
establishing communications with ocean-
going vessels. During W.W.I, the radio was
used extensively aboard military vessels.

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In 1920, KDKA in Pittsburgh, became th
n in the
first commercial broadcasting statio
United States. Constant technical
improvements and huge consumer
eiver
demand soon made the radio rec
a
(particularly in the United States),
standard household fixture.
h
KDKA Pittsburg

m (one-way only) went on the

The first operational land mobile radio syste air in
it Police in their patrol cars.
April 7, 1928, and was used by the Detro This radio
mplitude Modulation (AM),
system used a technology called A which proved
en landscape
impractical as tall buildings and unev
land.
prevented successful transmission of radio signals on

In 1935, a major technological breakthrough arose when Edw in H.

chnology
Armstrong invented Frequency Modulation (FM). This new te
ss bulky
provided increased voice quality, required much less power and le
equipment than AM, and was more resistant to propagation problems
(delay caused by the signal traveling between two points).

American involvement in W.W.II

created an urgent need for high-
quality, two-way radio on the
battlefield. American companies
such as AT&T, Motorola, and Genera I
Electric began to focus on refining
mobile and portable
communications. This focus brought
about such familiar products as the
Walkie-Talkie and the Handie-Talkie
from Motorola.
W.W. II: Drives Radio Advancements

In
1946, AT&T created ''Improved Mobile Telephone Service" (IMTS), the first
mobile radio system to connect with the public telephone network. IMTS
consisted of a single high-power transmitter that could service an area
covering a 50-mile radius. It was first operated in St. Louis, Missouri, then
quickly spread to 25 cities.

In 1947, the theoretical birth of cellular technology occurred when AT&T

engineers conceived of the design to use airwaves more efficiently by
deploying multiple low-power transmitters throughout a metropolitan area.
Calls would be handed-off from transmitter to transmitter as
subscribers traveled in their vehicles.
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Introduction to NN ireless Communications NORTHERN TELECOM

This multi-tray' nitter theory would allow more

customers to access the mobile network. Whenever more
network capacity was required, the area served by a
transmitter could once again be divided. However, the
technology to support effective hand-off was not available for
another 20 years.

The wheels of mobile communications were finally set in

motion when, in 1977, the FCC approved two
experimental licenses. In 1981, the FCC set aside 50 MHz of
spectrum in the 800 MHz range. To encourage
each
competition, this spectrum was split into two 25 MHz bands, one for of
cal
two systems: A) a competitive non-wireline company, and B) the lo
wireline telephone company.

50 MHz
ConWa-nPV- Company B
(Non-Wireline) (Wit eiinu)

1 44111---25 MHz --1111■14101---25 MHz —foil

Initially, most observers perceived cellular as a niche market exclusively for
business professionals. However, decreases in airtime charges and
terminal costs, coupled with the public's seemingly in satiable demand for
mobility, have combined to increase the U.S. cellular subscription rates at a
phenomenal pace

U.S. cellular subscription rates broke the 10-million mark on November

23, 1992. By mid 1996, the number of wireless subscribers in the United
States reached 40-million, and is expected to top 60-million by the end of the
decade.

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1.1.0 The Radio Signal

To fully understand the workings of the

cellular system, there must be an
understanding of the crucial element that
allows these systems to work: the radio signal.

Radio signals exist within the electromagnetic

spectrum and serve as a means to convey
information from one location to another.
We all know that radio signals exist and that
they are used in everyday communication. To
fully understand the wireless concept, there
must be an understanding of the radio signals' characteristics, and how
they are utilized to better serve our communications requirements.

The concepts referred to above and other, more specific; factors that affect the
radio signal (such as Multipath and Rayleigh Fading), are all described in this
section.

1.1.1 Electromagnetic Spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum is divided into different categories,

according to certain characteristics of the spectrum at certain frequencies.
These categories and their approximate frequency ranges are shown below:

Millimeter
Far Infra-
Waves Infra
Microwaves R Rede
Radio Red Ultra Violet
X-Rays
Frequencies
\\ , A(4 k
I Cosmic-Rays

H 1

IIIi 111 1 I I Frequency (Hz)

0 101 108 1012 1016 1020 1024

The span of spectrum that involves radio frequencies ranges from 0 hertz
(Hz) to approximately 30 gigahertz (GHz). Each gigahertz is one billion hertz.

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This range, called the radio spectrum, is used for all forms of wireless
communications. The application of the radio spectrum is summarized in the
following illustration.

AM I l a g a i l l =g1EN
0.3 0.4 0.5 06 0.7 08 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.4 3.0 MHz

Short Wave -- International Broadcast -- Amateur

I 1 I I I I

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 MH

VHF LOW Band IVHF VHF TV 7-13

30 4C 50 60 70 80 90 100 120 140 160 180 200 240 300 MHz

Cellular DCS, PCS

GPS

0.3 0.4 0 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.4 3.0 GHz

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 GH

Broadcasting Land-Mobile Aeronautical Mobile Telephony

Terrestrial Microwave Satellite

1.1.2 Radio Waves

magnetic energy which is propagated
The radio wave is a form of electro
of light. his energy can be visualized as a sine
through space at the speed T wave:

H
I-- Wavelength -NH