Wireless Networks

Lecture 1
Introduction to Wireless Communication

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 Course Basics

Data Communication and Networks

Pre-requisite
1. Wireless Communication and Networks, 2nd
Text books Ed., W. Stalling.
2. Wireless Communications: Principles and
Practices, 2nd Ed., T. S. Rappaport.
3. The Mobile Communications Handbook, J. D.
Gibson

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 Objectives of Course

 Introduce
► Basics of wireless communication
► Evolution of modern wireless communication systems
► Wireless Networks
► Research issues in emerging wireless networks
 Outcomes
► Adequate knowledge of wireless networks
► Able to carry research in different domains of wireless
networks

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 Course Syllabus

 Introduction to wireless communication

 Evolution of wireless communication systems
 Medium access techniques
 Propagation models
 Error control techniques
 Cellular systems
► AMPS, IS-95, IS-136, GSM,
 Wireless networks
► GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, cdma2000, Mobile IP, WLL, WLAN and
Bluetooth
 Emerging networks
► WiMAX, MANET, WSN

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 Introduction to Wireless Communication

I. The Wireless vision

II. Radio Waves
III. Channel Capacity
IV. Signal-to-Noise Ratio
V. EM Spectrum

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 The Wireless vision

 What is wireless communication?

 What are the driving factors?
► An explosive increase in demand of tetherless
connectivity.
► Dramatic progress in VLSI technology
• Implementation of efficient signal processing algorithms.
• New Coding techniques
► Success of 2G wireless standards (GSM)

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 Wired Vs. Wireless Communication

Wired Wireless
Each cable is a different channel One media (cable) shared by all
Signal attenuation is low High signal attenuation

No interference High interference

noise; co-channel interference; adjacent
channel interference

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 Why go wireless ?

 Advantages
► Sometimes it is impractical to lay cables
► User mobility
► Cost
 Limitations
► Bandwidth
► Fidelity
► Power
► (In) security

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 Electromagnetic Signal

 Function of time
 Can also be expressed as a function of frequency
► Signal consists of components of different frequencies

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 Time-Domain Concepts

 Analog signal - signal intensity varies in a smooth fashion

over time
► No breaks or discontinuities in the signal
 Digital signal - signal intensity maintains a constant level for
some period of time and then changes to another constant
level
 Periodic signal - analog or digital signal pattern that repeats
over time
► s(t +T ) = s(t ) - ∞< t < + ∞
• where T is the period of the signal
 Aperiodic signal - analog or digital signal pattern that doesn't
repeat over time

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 Time-Domain Concepts

 Peak amplitude (A) - maximum value or strength of

the signal over time; typically measured in volts
 Frequency (f )
► Rate, in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz) at which the
signal repeats
 Period (T ) - amount of time it takes for one
repetition of the signal
► T = 1/f
 Phase () - measure of the relative position in time
within a single period of a signal

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 Time-Domain Concepts

 Wavelength () - distance occupied by a single cycle of the

signal
► Or, the distance between two points of corresponding phase of two
consecutive cycles
 = vT

Sine wave Square wave

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 Time-Domain Concepts

 General sine wave

► s(t ) = A sin(2ft + )
 Figure shows the effect of varying each of the three
parameters
► (a) A = 1, f = 1 Hz,  = 0; thus T = 1s
► (b) Reduced peak amplitude; A=0.5
► (c) Increased frequency; f = 2, thus T = ½
► (d) Phase shift;  = /4 radians (45 degrees)
 note: 2 radians = 360° = 1 period

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Sine Wave Parameters

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 Frequency-Domain Concepts

 Fundamental frequency - when all frequency

components of a signal are integer multiples of one
frequency, it’s referred to as the fundamental
frequency
 Spectrum - range of frequencies that a signal
contains
 Absolute bandwidth - width of the spectrum of a
signal
 Effective bandwidth (or just bandwidth) - narrow
band of frequencies that most of the signal’s energy
is contained in
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 Frequency-Domain Concepts

 Any electromagnetic signal can be shown to consist

of a collection of periodic analog signals (sine
waves) at different amplitudes, frequencies, and
phases
 The period of the total signal is equal to the period
of the fundamental frequency

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 Relationship between Data Rate and Bandwidth

 The greater the bandwidth, the higher the

information-carrying capacity
 Conclusions
► Any digital waveform will have infinite bandwidth
► BUT the transmission system will limit the bandwidth
that can be transmitted
► AND, for any given medium, the greater the bandwidth
transmitted, the greater the cost
► HOWEVER, limiting the bandwidth creates distortions

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 About Channel Capacity

 Impairments, such as noise, limit data rate that can

be achieved
 For digital data, to what extent do impairments limit
data rate?
 Channel Capacity – the maximum rate at which data
can be transmitted over a given communication
path, or channel, under given conditions

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 Concepts Related to Channel Capacity

 Data rate - rate at which data can be communicated (bps)

 Noise - average level of noise over the communications path
 Error rate - rate at which errors occur
► Error = transmit 1 and receive 0; transmit 0 and receive 1

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 Nyquist Bandwidth

 For binary signals (two voltage levels)

► C = 2B
 With multilevel signaling
► C = 2B log2 M
• M = number of discrete signal or voltage levels

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 Signal-to-Noise Ratio

 Ratio of the power in a signal to the power contained in the

noise that’s present at a particular point in the transmission
 Typically measured at a receiver
 Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, or S/N)

signal power
( SNR) dB  10 log10
noise power
 A high SNR means a high-quality signal, lower number of
required intermediate repeaters
 SNR sets upper bound on achievable data rate

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 Shannon Capacity Formula

 Equation:

C  B log 2 1  SNR 

 Represents theoretical maximum that can be achieved

 In practice, only much lower rates achieved
► Formula assumes white noise (thermal noise)
► Impulse noise is not accounted for
► Attenuation distortion or delay distortion not accounted for

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 EM Spectrum
ISM band
902 – 928 Mhz

o
2.4 – 2.4835 Ghz
io

di

di
d

ra

ra

ar
ra

l
W

FM

llu
5.725 – 5.785 Ghz
AM

TV
TV
S/

ce
LF MF HF VHF UHF SHF EHF

30kHz 300kHz 3MHz 30MHz 300MHz 3GHz 30GHz 300GHz

10km 1km 100m 10m 1m 10cm 1cm 100mm 

X rays
Gamma rays
infrared visible UV

1 kHz 1 MHz 1 GHz 1 THz 1 PHz 1 EHz

Propagation characteristics are different in each frequency band

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 Design Challenges

 Two fundamental aspects of wireless

communication
► Channel fading
• Multipath fading
• Path loss via distance attenuation
• Shadowing by obstacles
► Interference
• Multiple transmitters to a common receiver
• Multiple transmitters to multiple receivers

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 The primary concern in wireless systems is to
increase the reliability of air interface.
 This is achieved by controlling the channel fading
and interference.
 Recently the focus has shifted to spectral efficiency.

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 Summary

 EM seen in domain of time and frequency

 Analog and digital signal
 Periodic and aperiodic signal
 Frequency, amplitude and wavelength of signal
 Fundamental frequency
 Channel capacity
► Nyquist formula
► Shannon formula
 EM Spectrum
 Design challenges in wireless communication
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 Course Syllabus

 Introduction to wireless communication (3 hrs)

 Evolution of wireless communication systems (3 hrs)
 Medium access techniques (3 hrs)
 Propagation models (3 hrs)
 Error control techniques (3 hrs)
 Cellular systems (9 hrs)
► AMPS, IS-95, IS-136, GSM,
 Wireless networks (12 hrs)
► GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, cdma2000, Mobile IP, WLL, WLAN and
Bluetooth
 Emerging networks (9 hrs)
► WiMAX, MANET, WSN, etc

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