Wireless network

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A wireless network is a telecommunication or computer network that uses radio for the carrier or physical layer.

Contents

[edit] History

The beginning of wireless started with Guglielmo Marconi as he began working with radio waves (History of Wireless). In 1896, Marconi was successful and obtained a patent and established the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company, the first radio factory in the world (History of Wireless). By 1901 the first signals were being sent across the Atlantic Ocean (History of Wireless). The military found use for this wireless technology is configured the wireless signals to send data that was heavily encrypted making it difficult to be cracked which proved to be especially useful during World War II for the Army and Navy (History of Wireless). The first radio telephony network for commercial use was made available to consumers by the Bell Telephone Company in the early 1950's. The problem with this network was that only a limited number of people could be on the network. Eventually this technology was further developed in order to support more people and to be more reliable. In 1971, researchers at the University of Hawaii developed the world’s first WLAN, or wireless local area network, it was named ALOHAnet (World of Wireless Networking). In 1982, AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) system specification became the radio telephony standard of the United States. Other countries also developed cellular networks, some used the United States standard meanwhile, and others used a different standard. GSM networks are now the more used cellular phone networks especially in North America.

[edit] Types

Wireless LAN: One type of wireless network is a wireless LAN, or Local Area Network. Similar to other wireless devices, it uses radio instead of wires to transmit data back and forth between computers on the same network as was the case for ALOHNET.

Global System for Mobile Communications (or GSM) is another type of wireless network. The GSM network is divided into three major systems which are the switching system, the base station system, and the operation and support system (Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM)). The cell phone connects to the base system station which then connects to the operation and support station; it then connects to the switching station where the call is transferred where it needs to go (Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM)). This is used for cellular phones, is the most common standard and is used for a majority of cellular providers.

Personal Communication Service or PCS refers to a radio band that can be used by mobile phones in North America. Sprint happened to be the first service to set up a PCS.

D-AMPS, which stands for Digital Advanced Mobile Phone Service, is an upgraded version of AMPS but it is being phased out due to advancement in technology. The newer GSM networks are replacing the older system.

Wi-Fi is a commonly used wireless network in computer systems which enable connection to the internet or other machines that have Wi-Fi functionalities. Wi-Fi networks broadcast radio waves that can be picked up by Wi-Fi receivers that are attached different computers (How Wi-Fi Works).

Fixed Wireless Data is a type of wireless data network that can be used to connect two or more buildings together in order to extend or share the network bandwidth without physically wiring the buildings together.

[edit] Pros and Cons

Wireless networks allow you to eliminate messy cables. Wireless connections offer more mobility, the downside is there can sometimes be interference that might block the radio signals from passing through. One way to avoid this is by putting the source of your wireless connection in a place that the signal will have as little interference as possible. Sometimes nearby networks are using the same frequencies, this can also cause interference within the network and can reduce its performance.

Compatibility issues also arise when dealing with wireless networks. Different components not made by the same company may not work together, or might require extra work to fix compatibility issues. To avoid this, purchase products made by the same company so that there are fewer compatibility issues.

Wireless networks, in terms of internet connections, are typically slower than those that are directly connected through an Ethernet cable. Though the speed is slower, most things will still move at the same speed except for things like video downloads. Though wireless technology continues to develop, it is now easier to get networks up and running cheaper and faster than ever before.

A wireless network is more vulnerable because anyone can try to break into a network broadcasting a signal. Many networks offer WEP - Wired Equivalent Privacy - security systems which have been found to be vulnerable to intrusion. Though WEP does block some intruders, the security problems have caused some businesses to stick with wired networks until security can be improved. Another type of security for wireless networks is WPA - Wi-Fi Protected Access. WPA provides more security to wireless networks than a WEP security set up. The use of firewalls will help with security breaches which can help to fix security problems in some wireless networks that are more vulnerable.

[edit] Uses

Wireless networks have significantly impacted the world as far back as World War II. With the use of wireless networks, information could be sent oversees or behind enemy lines easily and quickly and was more reliable. Since then wireless networks have continued to develop and its uses have significantly grown. Cellular phones are part of huge wireless network systems. People use these phones daily to communicate with one another. Sending information over seas is only possible through wireless network systems using satellites and other signals to communicate across the world otherwise getting information Emergency services such as the police department utilize wireless networks to communicate important information quickly. People and businesses use wireless networks to send and share data quickly whether it be in a small office building or across the world.

[edit] Companies

There are different companies that provide different wireless services some are listed below.

1. Cellular Company

• Cingular Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, Alltel Wireless, T-Mobile

2. Wireless Internet Networks

• Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, Cingular

[edit] Articles

  • Wireless MAN - metropolitan area network
  • Wireless LAN - local area networks
  • Wireless PAN - personal area networks
  • GSM - Global standard for digital mobile communication, common in most countries except South Korea and Japan
  • PCS - Personal communication system - not a single standard, this covers both CDMA and GSM networks operating at 1900 MHz in North America
  • Mobitex - pager-based network in the USA and Canada, built by Ericsson, now used by PDAs such as the Palm VII and Research in Motion BlackBerry
  • GPRS - General Packet Radio Service, upgraded packet-based service within the GSM framework, gives higher data rates and always-on service
  • UMTS - Universal Mobile Telephone Service (3rd generation cell phone network), based on the W-CDMA radio access network
  • AX.25 - amateur packet radio
  • NMT - Nordic Mobile Telephony, analog system originally developed by PTTs in the Nordic countries
  • AMPS - Advanced Mobile Phone System introduced in the Americas in about 1984.
  • D-AMPS - Digital AMPS, also known as TDMA
  • Wi-Fi - Wireless Fidelity, widely used for Wireless LAN, and based on IEEE 802.11 standards.
  • Wimax - A solution for BWA (Broadband Wireless Access) and conforms to IEEE 802.16 standard.
  • Canopy - A wide-area broadband wireless solution from Motorola.

[edit] Research institutes

The following institutions conduct wireless network related research:

[edit] Communities

[edit] Ideas

[edit] See also

[edit] Annotated bibliography

This source helped with verifying some history on wireless networks. The source is a few years old and so I didn’t use much of the information though it did have information similar to other sources in this project.
This source was useful in that it provided information about GSM networks. I used it just to give a short description of how GSM networks work. The source was reliable and talked about the way the different components of GSM networks.
This source was useful because it provided a general overview of wireless communications. The author provided some history behind wireless networks that I used to confirm with other sources in my paper. I thought the content that was provided was valuable and it was useful to the project.
This source was very useful when writing about the history of wireless networks. I used a lot of information from this source and verified it with other sources. The source talked about the start of wireless communication up to about the first WLAN. The source appeared to be reliable as it had the same information other sources had.
This source was reliable as I used the diagrams provided in the document. It was a picture that showed how different Wi-Fi connections were setup and talked about how long they could reach and possible problems relating to Wi-Fi. The source was reliable and useful to the discussion of how Wi-Fi works.
This source was useful specifically in regards to the ALOHNET information in this project. The information was the as the information provided by the article titled History of Wireless. The source was talked about different aspects of wireless networking, but the part I most focused on was the information regarding ALOHNET which discussed its history.
This source provided different pros and cons to using a wireless network. It talked about the easy mobility of wireless networks and how they provide easy access to information. It also talked about the downsides to it such as security issues and slower speeds at which information is transferred. This source was useful to this project and was reliable.

[edit] External links


Wireless at the Open Directory Project

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../w/i/r/Wireless_network.html"