Computer Networks

Radio Waves
Submitted by : 1.Naina Gupta
2.Sunidhi Dwivedi
Submitted to : Ms. Asha Ma’am
UNGUIDED MEDIA:WIRELESS

1. Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor which
means the signal travels through the air or sometimes even water.
2. It is called wireless communication or unbounded transmission media.
3. It does not provide any direction.
4. Types: Radio Waves, Microwave and Infrared.
Unguided signals travel from the source to
destination in several ways:

Ground Propagation, Sky Propagation, and Line-of-sight Propagation.

1. Ground Propagation: In ground propagation, radio waves travel through the lowest portion of
the atmosphere, hugging the earth.
In this case distance depends upon the amount of power in the signal.
2. Sky Propagation: In sky propagation, higher-frequency radio waves radiate upward into the
ionosphere, where the are reflected back to the earth.
3.Line-of-sight Propagation: In line-of-sight propagation, very high-frequency signals are
transmitted in straight lines directly from antenna to antenna.
Antennas must be directional, facing each other.
BANDS
 The section of electromagnetic spectrum defined as radio waves and microwaves is divided into
eight ranges, called bands.
 These bands are rated from very low frequency (VLF) to extremely high frequency (EHF).
WIRELESS TRANSMISSION : RADIO WAVES

• The shaded portion of the

electromagnetic
spectrum is what we are
going to discuss about.
• This figure shows the part
of the electromagnetic
spectrum, ranging from
3kHz to 900THz, used for
wireless communication.
RADIO WAVES

 Radio waves are found on ‘electromagnetic spectrum’.

 They have lowest frequency on this spectrum.
 1These are the electromagnetic waves of a frequency 104 and 1011 or 1012
and used for long distance communication.
 Radio waves are form of electro-magnetic radiation that are invisible to the
human eye.
CHARACTERSTICS OF RADIO WAVES
 Radio waves are omnidirectional.
ADVANTAGE: Sending and receiving antenna do not have to be aligned.
DISADVANTAGE: The radio waves transmitted by one antenna is susceptible to interference by
another antenna that may send signals using the same frequency or band.
 Those radio waves that propagate in the sky mode, can travel long distances.
ADVANTAGE: Makes it a good candidate for long-distance broadcasting such as AM radio.
 Radio waves, particularly those of very low and medium frequencies, can penetrate walls.
ADVANTAGE: AM radio can receive signals inside a building.
DISADVANTAGE: We can not isolate a communication to just inside or outside a building.
Omnidirectional
Antenna
Radio waves use omnidirectional antennas
that sends out signals in all directions. Based
on wavelength, strength and the purpose of
transmission, we can have several types of
antennas.
APPPLICATIONS
• The omnidirectional characteristics of
radio waves make them useful for
multicasting, in which there is one sender
but many receivers.
• AM and FM radio, television, maritime
radio, cordless phones, and paging are
examples of multicasting.
• Radar, a system for detecting the
presence, direction, distance, and speed
of aircraft, ships, and other objects, by
sending out pulses of radio waves which
are reflected off the object back to the
source.