Chapter Three

Basic Wireless Network

Principles
 Outline
• Wireless Basics
• Frequency allocation & regulation
• Antennas
• Signal propagation
• Multiplexing
• Modulation
• Media access control
• Classifications of wireless networks
 Wireless Transmission

Antenna
Antenna
Transmitter Receiver

• Wireless Communication systems consist of:

– transmitters
– Antennas: radiates electromagnetic energy into air
– Receivers
• In some cases, transmitters and receivers are on
same device, called transceivers (e.g., cellular
phones)
 Signals
• Signals are the physical representation of data.
• Users of a communication system can only
exchange data through the transmission of
signals.
– Light ,electric , electromagnetic/radio
• Layer 1 of the OSI basic reference model is
responsible for the conversion of data,
– i.e. bits, into signals and vice versa.
 Basic Terms
• Signals, wireless or not, are represented as
cyclic waves which may be discrete (digital) or
continuous (analog).
• Frequency : no of cycles per unit time of the
wave
• Amplitude : the height of the wave
• Phase : shows how far, in degrees, the wave is
from its beginning (phase 0).
Basic terms …
 Basic terms…
• Hertz (Hz) = number of cycles per second.
Frequency is measured in Hertz.
• Data rate = number of bits sent per second (bps).
• Channel = a logical communication path.
– One physical wire can support multiple channels; each
channel supports one user.
• Bandwidth = frequency range used by a signal,
measured in Hz.
• Channel capacity = number of bits that can be
transmitted per second. (same as data rate).
 Transmission Media
• the physical path between the transmitter and
receiver.
– Guided: along a solid medium. ….Cables
– Unguided: achieved by using antennas. Wireless
• Type of wireless transmission
– Directional: point-to-point. E.g. microwave
– Omni-directional: waves are transmitted equally
in all directions.
 Frequency allocation
• Wireless communications use the “radio frequency
(RF)” spectrum for transmitting and receiving
information.
• Several factors are considered while allocating
frequencies
– cost of components: increases as you go to higher
frequencies.
– signal losses: also increase as frequencies increase.
– Noise disruption : lower frequencies are disrupted
regularly by man-made noise such as electrical motors,
car ignition, and domestic appliances.
 Wireless Frequency Allocation
• Radio frequencies range from 9KHz to 400GHZ (ITU)
Major frequency bands
• Microwave frequency range (1 GHz to 40 GHz)
– Most common: Parabolic "dish“
– Directional beams possible
– Suitable for point-to-point (line-of-sight ) transmission
– Used for satellite & terrestrial communications
• Broadcast frequency range(30 MHz to 1 GHz )
– Suitable for Omni-directional applications
– Antennas not required to be dish-shaped
– Antennas need not be rigidly mounted to a precise alignment
– applications : FM radio and UHF and VHF television
• Infrared frequency range(300 GHz to 3000 GHz)- THF
– Useful in local point-to-point multipoint applications within confined areas.
– does not penetrate walls
– used in remote control devices (TV remote control, garage door openers)
 Wireless Frequency Allocation
Commonly used frequencies in Wireless
Systems
– Cellular networks: Mostly around 900 MHz
– IEEE 802.11 LANs: 2.4 GHz (802.11b, 802.11g) and
5 GHz (802.11a)
– Satellite systems: 3 to 30 GHz
– Wireless local loops: 10 to 100 GHz
– Infrared wireless LANs; 300 GHz to 400 THz
 Frequency Regulations
• two approaches in using wireless frequencies:
– use an unlicensed band or
– use a frequency that is regulated
• Regulated bands require permission

Regulating Bodies
• ITU (International Telecom Union)
– Responsible for assigning internationally used frequencies
• Local broadcast and telecommunication agencies
are also responsible
 Question
• Which type of frequency do you think is
widely used(or congested) in wireless
communication ?
• Lower frequencies or higher?
• Why?
 Antennas
• An antenna is an electrical conductor or system of
conductors to send/receive RF signals
– Transmission - radiates electromagnetic energy into
space
– Reception - collects electromagnetic energy from space
• In two-way communication, the same antenna
can be used for transmission and reception

Directional
Omnidirectional Antenna (higher
Antenna (lower frequency) frequency)
 Antennas
Antenna Types
• Isotropic antenna (idealized)
– Radiates power equally in all directions (three dimensional) -
only a theoretical reference antenna
– Radiation pattern: measurement of radiation
around an antenna
• Dipole antennas(real world )
– Omni-directional
– Real antennas always have directive effects (vertically and/or
horizontally)
– Gain: maximum power in the direction of the main lobe compared
to the power of an isotropic radiator
• Parabolic Reflective Antenna (highly focussed, directional)
 Signal propagation
• Transmission range
– communication possible
– low error rate
• Detection range sender

– detection of the signal

transmission
possible
distance
– no communication detection
possible
interference
• Interference range
– signal may not be
detected
– signal adds to the
background noise
 Propagation Modes
Signal

Transmission Receiving
Antenna Antenna
Earth
a) Ground Wave Propagation

(< 2 MHz) Ionosphere

E.g. submarine
AM Radio
Signal
b) Sky Wave Propagation
Earth
(2-30 MHz)
E.g. international
broadcasts
Signal
c) Line-of-Sight Propagation
(>30 MHz) - Satellite Earth
 Signal Propagation Mechanisms
• Basic types of propagation mechanisms
 Free space propagation

LOS wave travels large
distance with obstacle-free
 Reflection
reflection

Wave impinges on an object
which is large compared to
the wave-length  Lamp
post
 Diffraction

Occurs when wave hits the sharp edge of thediffraction scattering
obstacles and bent around to propagate further in
the ‘shadowed’ regions.
 Scattering

Wave hits the objects smaller than  itself. e.g.
street signs and lamp posts.

Radio wave propagation is affected by reflection
diffraction and scattering
 Signal Propagation

• Signal degradation resulting from propagation in the

mobile radio environment. The principal phenomena are:
– pathloss due to distance covered by radio signal
(frequency dependent, less at low frequencies)
– fading (frequency dependent, related to multipath
propagation)
– shadowing induced by obstacles in the path between the
transmitted and the receiver
– Interference from other sources and noises

shadowing
 Multipath propagation
• Signal can take many different paths between sender and receiver
due to reflection, scattering, diffraction
multipath
LOS pulses pulses

signal at sender
signal at receiver
• Positive effects of multipath:
– enables communication even when transmitter and receiver
are not in LOS conditions ‐ allows radio waves effectively to
go through obstacles
• Negative effects of multipath:
– Time dispersion or delay spread: Causes interference with
“neighboring” symbols, this is referred to as Inter Symbol
Interference (ISI)
 Modulation
Modulation is the process of mixing carrier wave to the data signal to produce new
signals for transmitting through wirelessly

 Digital modulation
– digital data is translated into an analog signal (baseband)
– Amplitude Shift Keying ASK, Frequency Shift Keying FSK,
Phase Shift Keying PSK
 Analog modulation
– Amplitude Modulation (AM)
– Frequency Modulation (FM)
– Phase Modulation (PM)
 Modulation and demodulation
analog
digital baseban
data d signal
digital analog
10110 modulation modulation radio transmitter
1001
radio
carrie
r

analog
baseban digital
d signal data
analog synchronizatio
demodulatio n decision radio receiver
10110100
n 1
radio
carrie
r
 Spread Spectrum
• Spread data over wide bandwidth
• It uses wideband, noise‐like signals that are hard to detect,
intercept, or demodulate
• Signals are harder to jam (interfere with) than narrow
band signals
• Signals are hard to detect on wideband equipment because the
signal’s energy is spread over a bandwidth or may be 100 times
the information bandwidth.
• The power level of the spread signal can be much lower than
that of the original narrowband signal without losing data .
Spread Spectrum
Two major technologies:
Frequency Hopping SS (FHSS)
Direct Sequence SS (DSSS)
 FHSS
• FHSS: send info in different frequencies on
different time slots.
• Hopping Pattern:
– In each time slot, the occupied frequencies are
separated by some distance to avoid interference.

tseng:27
Frequency Hopping Example
 FHSS
• Transmitter
• Modulation generates a new spread signal ( modulated
narrowband signal + carrier sense)
• Performing frequency hopping based on hopping
sequence
• Frequency hopping is fed into frequency synthesizer to
send the modulated signal
• Receiver
• Must know the hopping sequence and stayed
synchronized.
• User inverse operations of the modulation to reconstruct
user data
 Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)

• Each bit represented by multiple bits using spreading code

• Spreading code spreads signal across wider frequency band
• Performance similar to FHSS
 DSSS…
• transmitter
– Spreading of the user data with a chipping sequence
(10110111000)
– Modulating the spread signal with a radio
carrier
• Receiver
– Demodulating the received signal (with the
same bandwidth as the original spread spectrum
signal)
– Should know the original chipping sequence
– Synchronization is required (integrator)
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Example
Bandwidth Utilization:
Multiplexing
Note

Bandwidth utilization is the wise use of

available bandwidth to achieve specific
goals.

Efficiency can be achieved by

multiplexing; privacy and anti-jamming
can be achieved by spreading.
Media Access Control

Reading assignment
 MULTIPLEXING
Multiplexing is the set of techniques that allows the
simultaneous transmission of multiple signals across a
single data link.
Types of Multiplexing:
• Frequency-Division Multiplexing
• Time Division Multiplexing
• Code-Division Multiplexing
• Space-Division Multiplexing
Figure Dividing a link into channels
 Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
• Separation of the whole spectrum into smaller frequency bands
• A channel gets a certain band of the spectrum for the whole time
• Advantages:
– no dynamic coordination necessary, i.e., sync. and framing
– works also for analog signals
– low bit rates – cheaper
– No sensitive to propagation delay
• Disadvantages:
– waste of bandwidth if the traffic is distributed unevenly
– inflexible
– guard bands
Frequency-division multiplexing
 Example

Five channels, each with a 100-kHz bandwidth, are to be

multiplexed together. What is the minimum bandwidth of
the link if there is a need for a guard band of 10 kHz
between the channels to prevent interference?

Solution
For five channels, we need at least four guard
bands. This means that the required bandwidth is at least
5 × 100 + 4 × 10 = 540 kHz,
as shown in Figure next slide.
Cont..

6.41
Note

FDM is an analog multiplexing technique

that combines analog signals.
Figure FDM
process
FDM demultiplexing example
Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
• A channel gets the whole spectrum for a certain
amount of time.
• Advantages:
– only one carrier in the medium at any time
– throughput high - supports burst signals(like voice or speech )
– flexible – multiple slots
– Most suitable technique for digital transmission
• Disadvantages:
– Framing and precise synchronization necessary
CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
• all terminals/senders send on same frequency at the same time using
the whole bandwidth
• each sender has a unique random number, sender XORs the signal
with this random number
• the receiver can “tune” into this signal if it knows the pseudo
random
number
Disadvantages:
• higher complexity of a receiver (receiver cannot just listen into the
medium and start receiving if there is a signal)
• all signals should have the same strength at a receiver
Advantages:
• all terminals can use the same frequency, no planning needed
• forward error correction and encryption can be easily integrated