Wireless communication systems

What this guide covers

This article explains wireless communication systems from the point of view of a developer or technical reader: what changes when the transmission medium is the electromagnetic spectrum, why mobility affects network design and how technologies such as infrared, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and mobile networks fit into the same conceptual map.

It is closely related to the introductory article on mobile devices and to the practical notes on mobile app architecture and wireframes, because the way a device communicates affects usability, latency, battery consumption and the services that can be designed on top.

Introduction

Currently, we are immersed in what is called revolution wireless communications technology, a revolution similar to the one they carried out in their moment the electricity, the television, the computer or cable communications themselves, which meant new business models.

One of the main advantages of this technology is mobility, not depend on cable. The fact that the entry point into the communications network is not linked to a fixed location and that the transmission medium is already prepared favors its expansion, which can be faster than any other type of technology. There is an example which corroborates it: in just five years of existence, mobile telephony has already had more users than landline telephony.

The focus of this module is clearly aimed at initiating computer engineers in wireless communications technologies, with the aim of offering them an important added value in your professional career as extension developers or services on mobile devices.

The Internet has also benefited from this technology, a fact that has given step to which is known as mobile internet, which allows mobile devices and people to connect to the Network from any anywhere and at any time, which has facilitated the emergence of new services and applications on these devices.

Mobile telephone contracts in the world, total and per 100 inhabitants, 2001-2016.

Fuente: ITU World Telecommunication / ICT Indicators database.

Source: ITU World Telecommunication / ICT Indicators database.

1.computer networks

In a computer network, we can distinguish four elements important factors involved in its definition:

The communication protocol defines the language and set of rules that facilitate communication between the sender and receiver, with the aim that they can understand each other and exchange information. There are many protocols, but surely the best known and most widespread among computers is the TCP/IP that use the Internet.

The security It is the element that allows guaranteeing the confidentiality, authentication and data integrity.

The communication protocol defines the language and set of rules that facilitate communication between the sender and receiver, with the aim that they can understand each other and exchange information. There are many protocols, but surely the best known and most widespread among computers is the TCP/IP that use the Internet.

The transmission medium It is the element that differentiates more clearly communication technologies with wireless wires. It is the medium through which the signal that transfers the data.

Currently, wired (guided) communications use different transmission media, among others, the twisted pair (UTP⁽²⁾ or STP⁽³⁾), coaxial cable, fiber optics or high voltage cables.

The means of transmission of wireless communications (unguided) is the spectrum electromagnetic that we colloquially call air.

1.1 The electromagnetic spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of frequencies of all electromagnetic waves that can propagate through free space, ordered according to their length of wave and its frequency.

As the name itself indicates, these waves have a component magnetic and another electric. The most familiar form of electromagnetic radiation is visible light.

Electromagnetic spectrum

The most used frequency ranges in communications wireless are the following:

Infrared (IR). They are used in short-range point-to-point communications, They are very addressable and they cannot cross obstacles. This means is usually used in the command at a distance from television and until a few years ago it was also a communication system which was often used to connect devices located next to each other (a PDA⁽⁴⁾ with the computer or with a mobile phone and the keyboard with the computer). is the frequency range higher for wireless communications.
Microwave (MW). This frequency range is suitable for transmissions of long haul (communications satellite, point-to-point terrestrial communications as an alternative to coaxial cable or fiber optics, and also most of the most common wireless technologies that currently exist, such as UMTS, Bluetooth or WLAN). Microwaves are usually directional and use a part of the spectrum with frequencies smaller than infrared.
Radio frequencies (RF). It is the range used by radio transmissions (FM, AM) and digital television terrestrial (DTT). Radio frequencies are omnidirectional and can pass through obstacles without any problem.

To organize the use of the electromagnetic spectrum, there are national agreements and international regulations that regulate who can use what frequency. We have to think that the spectrum is limited and that there are many services that want to use it: the radio, television, cordless phones, telephone companies, agents police, military, local area networks, etc.

The UTI⁽⁵⁾ in the area worldwide and the FCC⁽⁶⁾ in the United States They are responsible for regulating the use of the frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The bands authorized by these international organizations are called IMS bands⁽⁷⁾, and at the time granting authorizations take into account that the transmission power is not harmful to health.

1.2 Components of a wave

In order to understand wireless communications it is necessary know the concepts fundamentals that define an electromagnetic wave:

Frequency (f). Number of oscillations per second of a wave or signal, measures in herz. A wave that makes five cycles per second has a frequency of 5 Hz.
Period (T). Amount of time it takes for a wave to complete one cycle: T = 1/f.
Phase (φ). Relative position in time within the simple period of a wave.
Wavelength (λ). Space occupied by one complete cycle of a wave, measured in meters: λ = c/f, where c is the speed of light in a vacuum (approximately 3 10⁸ meters/second).
Amplitude (a). Maximum value or power of a wave over time, typically measured in volts or decibels.

Components of a wave

2.Wireless communications

In a broad and general sense, we understand communications wireless those communications between devices (mobile or not) or between people who they exchange information using the electromagnetic spectrum.

Examples of wireless communications

The definition of wireless communications encompasses from a Bluetooth communication between a mobile phone and a laptop to two-terminal communication GSM mobile telephony. Even verbal communication between two people would be a wireless communication: they use the air as a channel for exchanging information.

2.1.Classification

Depending on the documentation consulted, you can find different classifications of wireless communications. In this article, we will classify them according to at your fingertips and how to control network access.

Depending on the scope, we can establish three large groups:

Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN: wireless personal area networks).
Wireless local area networks (WLAN: wireless local area networks).
Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWAN: wireless wide area networks). We can differentiate two types of WWAN, depending on who controls its access:
- Fixed communication (FWWAN: fixed wireless wide area networks).
- Mobile communication (MWWAN: mobile wireless wide area networks).

2.1.1.Personal networks wireless (WPAN)

WPANs present an important limitation in scope: devices that aim communicate they must be closely separated. Generally, the space is accepted as a limit of a room or an office.

Uses of WPAN networks

WPAN networks are a technology that has come from progressive way to our life everyday life with the aim of making communications more comfortable and easier to use: Bluetooth technology allows a printer and a computer to communicate without no cables, as long as they are approximately ten meters away; through Wi-Fi technology the distance can be up to one hundred meters.

The most used WPAN technologies are the following: Bluetooth, DECT⁽⁸⁾, IrDa⁽⁹⁾, NFC⁽¹⁰⁾ and Zigbee.

Bluetooth, Viking king

The name Bluetooth comes from the Viking king Harald Blatand (century x), which unified and controlled Denmark and Norway. This is where the inspiration for the name comes from: This technology aims to unify and interconnect devices.

It is believed that one of this king's hobbies was eat blackberries and that's why I had the "tint" blue of teeth (bluetooth means 'blue tooth' in English).

Bluetooth allows you to wirelessly connect different electronic devices, such as personal organizers (PDAs), mobile phones, tablets or watches intelligent (smartwatches) or laptop computers, in a way that makes it easier, cheaper and guarantees interoperability between devices from different manufacturers. This protocol is a specification regulated by the group of work IEEE 802.15.1, which allows the transmission of voice and data between different devices through a link radio frequency in the 2.4 GHz ISM band.

Bluetooth defines a short range (around 10 m) and, optionally, a scope medium (about 100 m).

Historical evolution

The historical evolution of technology Bluetooth is as follows:

1994: Ericsson promotes communications study low-cost wireless power.
1998: the SIG (Special Interest Group) is created, formed initially by Ericsson, IBM, Intel Nokia and Toshiba.
1999: Version 1.0 of the standard appears.
2001- Version 1.1 of the standard appears.
2002: The IEEE produces the 802.15.1 standard, which is compatible with Bluetooth version 1.1.
2004: version 2.0 of the standard appears, which stands out for the increase in speed transfer rate (up to 3 Mbps).
2007: version 2.1 of the standard appears, which stands out for the improvements in matters of security.
2009: version 3.0 of the standard appears, which stands out for the considerable increase in transfer speed (up to 300 Mbps).
2011: version 4.0 of the standard appears, which stands out for its significant reduction of battery consumption.
2014- Version 4.2 of the standard appears. Introduce improvements important for the development IoT (IPv6 for Bluetooth Smart). Improvements are incorporated from the point of view of security.
2016: Version 5.0 of the standard appears. It is created for the massive development of IoT. Your speed (2 Mbps) in the case of low energy transmission multiplies by two the version 4.x speed. Increases the transmission distance by four to version 4.x: this is very important to be able to create solutions that cover all the surface of a house. It also increases by eight the size of the data that can be transmit (255 octet packets).

In a Bluetooth network, any device can act as master or as slave:

The master device is responsible for defining how communication is established physically (hopping frequency, phase, etc.).
Slave devices coordinate their transmissions according to specifications of the teacher. Normally, the first person to request the service acts as the master, except when the network has already been established.

DECT

The technology digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT) appears as a need for analog communications of the telephony of the early 1980s evolved into a digital context. Wireless digital transmission offers a series of advantages over analog: less interference, more device capacity in the same area, more security (information can be encrypted) and more mobility (mechanisms can be established to jump from one network to another, a feature called roaming).

The DECT standard officially appears at the beginning of 1988 promoted by the ETSI. Initially, it focused on the definition of the radio link between wireless devices and fixed stations, and in the protocols and standards necessary to develop transfer functions (handover) between base stations.

The DECT standard, which originally supported data transfers up to 552 Kbps, has evolved to allow 2 Mbps transfers.

More than one hundred countries have reserved frequency bands for data transmission with DECT. Furthermore, a large number of countries operate in a frequency band protected, that is, free from interference with other technologies.

IrDa

The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) is an association that integrates more than one hundred and sixty companies. The IrDA standard uses the infrared frequency spectrum to transmit information.

The use of IrDA technology has become very widespread, especially all in the nineties and at the beginning of the century, due to its low implementation cost and low consumption of battery. In addition, it is very flexible and able to easily adapt to a large number of applications and devices, such as tablets, phones, printers or computers portable.

Devices that use IrDA communicate by using the LED diode (light emitting diode). These devices need to be aligned with each other. The maximum deviation allowed is 30°.

NFC

The technology near field communication (NFC) allows data transmission in a simple way between different devices through a radio frequency link in the 13.56 MHz ISM band.

Since the connection occurs when two devices NFC are very close to each other Yes, within 20 centimeters, communication is inherently secure.

NFC was approved by the ISO 18092 standard in 2003. Philips, Sony and Nokia formed the NFC Forum to advance the development of NFC specifications and ensure its interoperability.

NFC technology is an extension of the standard ISO/IEC-14443 for proximity cards contactless that combines the interface of a smart card and a reader in one single device, which makes it compatible with the entire payment infrastructure without contact that currently exists.

Although NFC technology allows data exchange between devices, it is not aimed at massive data transmission, such as Bluetooth, but at communication between devices with computing capabilities, such as mobile phones, tablets or PCs, since it is a complementary technology to provide other services, such as be the identification and validation of people.

NFC is the technology that allows the operation of bank cards contactless and Apple's mobile-based payment services (Apple Pay), Google (Android Pay), Samsung (Samsung Pay) and others. Mobile payment systems combine ease of use of contactless with fingerprint verification. Many smart watches (smartwatches) They also have this technology.

Zigbee

Zigbee is a wireless communications standard, regulated by the working group IEEE 802.15.4 in 2004, which allows enabling wireless networks with capabilities control, and monitor that they are safe, low energy consumption and low cost processor, bidirectionally.

ZigBee is promoted by the ZigBee Alliance, a community international of more than hundred companies, such as Motorola, Mitsubishi, Philips, Samsung, Honeywell and Siemens, among others. In fact, ZigBee is not a technology, but a standardized set of solutions that can be implemented by any manufacturer.

2.1.2.Local networks wireless (WLAN)

A WLAN is a network with limited geographic coverage, relatively fast transmission speed high, low error level and privately managed, which communicates basically through microwaves.

WLANs are an extension and/or an alternative to LANs with cables. The users of a WLAN can access the resources offered by the LAN without having to depend of network infrastructure (cabling, connectors, etc.).

The great diffusion of WLANs is due to the important advantages that they present regarding to LANs:

Mobility: WLAN users can access information in real time real from any place of the organization.
Simple installation- No need to worry about cable installation within the coverage radius.
Flexibility- Allows access to places that a wired LAN would not reach never.
Low cost: although the initial cost of installing WLANs can be superior to LANs with cable, in the long term it can mean savings, especially in environments with changes frequent location of devices.
Scalability- WLANs can be configured with different topologies from one simple way according to the need of the environment. We can have WLANs ad hoc (where devices go adding to the network) and WLANs with access points connected to the main network.

Despite the advantages mentioned above, WLANs They have a series of limitations and requirements, such as:

Speed- WLANs must be able to transmit information at speeds comparable to LANs (more than 500 Mbps).
Delays: are important in any application, but especially in transmissions wireless.
Difficult access: within a building we can find factors that they dampen the signal. a device mobile can receive much less power than another.
Consumption: Mobile devices are usually powered by batteries; for what therefore, we must design them so that they have efficient consumption (sleep mode, low consumption mode, low expense in transmitting packets, etc.).
Maximum number of nodes and maximum coverage: a WLAN may need to support hundreds of nodes. Typical coverage area of a WLAN is between 10 and 100 m², which implies propagation delays less than 1,000 nsec.
Security: the medium in which information is transmitted (waves electromagnetic) is open for anyone in range. To ensure safety, They use encryption algorithms.
Interference: can occur due to two simultaneous transfers (collisions) or two emitters that share the same frequency band. Collisions also occur when several stations waiting for the channel to be free begin transmissions at the same time. Unlike local wired networks, WLANs produce a hidden node effect that leads to an increase in collisions.

The most used WLAN technologies are mainly different variants of IEEE 802.11; although there are also others, such as HIPERLAN.

IEEE 802.11

IEEE 802.11 is a family of networking standards wireless premises developed by the IEEE, which was defined in 1997 (in 1999 the standards were defined 802.11a and 802.11b). The standard guarantees interoperability between different manufacturers. That is, for example, that a WLAN card for PC from a manufacturer works with an access point from another manufacturer.

The 802.11 standard describes the functionality of the layers and sublayers and relationships among them, but it does not specify how they have to be done; it only indicates how to do it behave the equipment and leaves the manufacturer free rein in how to implement it.

The main objective of the 802.11 standard is to ensure the functionality of the applications without having to consider whether the communication is wireless or not.

The 802.11 standard is a family of specifications, among which we highlight the following:

IEEE 802.11a: supports speeds of up to 54 Mbps and uses the bandwidth 5 GHz frequencies. This protocol is oriented to the transmission of packets, but does not support functions of service quality.
IEEE 802.11b (initially called Wi-Fi): supports speeds up to 11 Mbps and uses the 2.4 GHz frequency band.
IEEE 802.11g: supports speeds of up to 54 Mbps. It is an evolution of the IEEE 802.11b and uses the same 2.4 GHz frequency band.
IEEE 802.11i- was created to overcome the security vulnerability for authentication protocols and coding. The standard includes the 802.1x, TKIP and AES protocols and is implemented with WPA2.
IEEE 802.11n: supports speeds of up to 600 Mbps and can work in two frequency bands: 2.4 GHz (used by 802.11b and 802.11g) and 5 GHz (used by 802.11a). 802.11n is compatible with devices based on all previous specifications of 802.11. The fact that it works in the 5 GHz band allows it to achieve greater performance, since it is less congested.
IEEE 802.11ac: The specification indicates a transfer rate of at minus 1 gigabit per second with multiple antenna configurations and a rate of at least 500 megabits per second with a single antenna. It works in the 5 GHz frequency band.

HiperLAN

The high performance radio local area network (HiperLAN) is a wireless local network standard developed by ETSI.

The first version of the standard, HiperLAN1 (HiperLAN Type 1), emerged in 1996 and supported speeds of up to 20 Mbps. The evolution of this standard, which appeared in 2000, it was called HiperLAN2 (HiperLAN Type 2) and supported speeds of up to 54 Mbps. Both standards operate in the 5 GHz frequency band.

2.1.3.Large networks wireless range (WWAN)

WWANs allow the connection of networks and zone users geographically distant. We can distinguish two types:

Fixed WWANs, which use radio link or satellite.
Mobile WWANs, used by companies or other public services in the transmission and signal reception.

Without any doubt, mobile WWAN networks (MWWAN) are those who have lived a most spectacular expansion in recent years. Currently MWWANs are the system most used wireless communication system, since it is the one used by operators of mobile telephony and has more than 5,000 million users around the world.

Fixed WWANs (FWWAN)

Fixed WWAN networks can use two technologies:

Radio link. Using radio links separate networks can be connected geographically with different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum (infrared, microwave, laser, etc.), which can be point-to-point or point-to-multipoint.
Satellite. Satellite communications cover a large area of the Earth, they have a large bandwidth and the cost of transmission is independent of distance; They have the disadvantage of signal propagation delays.

Currently, most satellite networks are used for dissemination of television. The use of these networks for wireless data transmission is very limited, since it is necessary to take into account the large expenses involved in equipment, the problems of the delay that occurs when the signal propagates and the high cost per minute of transmission.

Mobile WWAN (MWWAN)

In MWWAN networks, the terminal that sends and receives the information is in motion. In these networks there are normally many users connected simultaneously (access multiple) that use the services.

Currently in Europe there are different technologies of MWWAN, grouped by generations, where the most notable are the following six:

1) 2G (2nd generation). Second-hand technology generation, used to describe digital mobile networks, such as GSM, which replaced first-generation analog mobile networks. They were basically designed for voice communications, instant messaging (SMS) and, sporadically, for basic data transmission that requires very little bandwidth of band. The generation covers the GSM system:

GSM⁽¹¹⁾. The Group Special Mobile was the organization in charge of the technical configuration of transmission and reception regulations for mobile telephony. In Europe, the ISM frequency bands used are 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz. This technology It appeared in 1990 with a transmission speed of 9.6 kbps. GSM operates by circuit communication; This means that there is an establishment phase of the connection that adds waiting time and that the call will always be open, even if there is no data transfer, as long as the connection is not closed.

2) 2.5G (second and a half generation). Considered an intermediate technology between 2G and 3G based on updates technological advances of GSM mobile networks to increase the transmission speed of data and its effectiveness. The generation covers GPRS and EDGE systems:

GPRS⁽¹²⁾. It is a packet switching technique that began to be used in 2001 and that It was integrated with the current GSM network structure. This technology allows a speed data rates between 56 and 115 kbps. Its advantages are multiple and are fundamentally applied to data transmissions that require discontinuous traffic, such as the Internet and electronic messaging (SMS and MMS). With this technology, the concept disappears of connection time and give way to the amount of information transmitted, and goes from circuit switching to packet switching. Service providers mobile telephony companies will be able to bill for packages actually sent and received. Bandwidth may be delivered a la carte, depending on the needs of the communication.
EDGE⁽¹³⁾. Also known as EGPRS (Enhanced GPRS), it is a technology that appeared in the 2003 and considered an evolution of GPRS. EDGE provides higher bandwidth to GPRS, between 236 and 384 kbps, which allows you to run applications that require faster data transfer speed, such as video and other multimedia services.

3) 3G (third generation). 3G technologies They are the answer to the IMT-2000 specification of the Union Telecommunications International (ITU) to have broadband in telephony mobile and transmit a significant volume of data over the network. With the third generation, video conferencing, downloading videos, watching television will be possible in real time and be able to carry out most operations from your mobile. The generation covers the UMTS system:

UMTS⁽¹⁴⁾. The UMTS standard is based on WCDMA technology. UMTS is managed by the 3GPP version 4 organization, also responsible for GSM, GPRS and EDGE. UMTS was commercialized for the first time in 2005 and its maximum data transmission speed is 1.92 Mbps.

4) 3.5G (third generation and a half). of the same way that 2.5G is considered an intermediate technology between 3G and 4G, with the main objective of considerably increasing the transmission speed of data by the current needs of consumer clients. It is, therefore, the evolution of 3G and is considered the previous step of the fourth generation 4G. The generation covers HSPA and HSDPA systems:

HSPA⁽¹⁵⁾. It is the combination of subsequent and complementary technologies to 3G, such as HSDPA or HSUPA. Theoretically, it supports speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps downstream and up to 2 Mbps increasing, depending on the state or saturation of the network and its implementation.
HSDPA⁽¹⁶⁾. It is the optimization of UMTS/WCDMA spectral technology, included in the specifications of 3GPP version 5 and consists of a new shared channel in the downlink (downlink) which significantly improves the maximum transfer capacity of information until reaching rates of 14.4 Mbps, supporting average transmission rates close to at 1 Mbps. It is fully compatible with UMTS and most UMTS providers give support for this technology.

5) 4G (fourth generation). The WWRF⁽¹⁷⁾ defines 4G as a Network integration powered by Internet technology where the entire network is IP, combining it with other uses and technologies, such as WiFi and WiMAX. At this time, 4G is not a defined technology or standard, but rather a collection of technologies and protocols that allow maximum performance and with a wireless network cheaper. 4G includes high-performance wireless techniques, such as MIMO⁽¹⁸⁾ and for access radio abandons the CDMA type access characteristic of UMTS (3G) to go to OFDMA⁽¹⁹⁾ to optimize access. The generation covers LTE and WiMax systems:

LTE⁽²⁰⁾. It is the standard of the 3GPP version 8, 9 and 10, defined as an evolution of the 3GPP UMTS standard (3G) and a new concept of evolutionary architecture (4G). LTE is the key to the take-off of the mobile Internet, since it makes data transmission possible at more than 300 Mbps on the move, allowing the transmission of high-quality videos or TV definition.
WIMAX⁽²¹⁾. It is a technology, between WLAN and WWLAN, that allows connections to be made over long distances, with large bandwidths and without requiring direct line of sight between antennas. WiMAX complies with IEEE 802.16 standards and is compatible with other standards, such as the IEE 802.11, to establish joint telecommunications systems.

6) 5G. The objective of 5G is to respond to the increase in users per coverage area and the increase in data consumption until reaching amounts of gigabytes per month. Due to the development of the “internet of things” (IoT), many of these users They will be devices that will be autonomously connecting to the Internet. For example, We are talking about devices such as vehicles, road signaling systems, home automation systems, etc. On the other hand, 5G will allow consumption to become widespread HD video from mobile devices.

Some of the features of this standard are: following:

Allows you to multiply LTE speed (1 Gbps) by 10.
Significantly reduced latency compared to LTE (1-10 ms).
Allows hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections for massive networks of sensors wireless.
Improvement in coverage.

Evolution of mobile MWWAN technologies

Evolución de las tecnologías móviles MWWAN

2.2.Advantages of wireless communications compared to traditional ones

Below, we detail some of the advantages of use of the wireless technology, compared to traditional wired communication:

Accessibility and flexibility. Wireless communications reach places where cables do not have access.
Cost. Wireless communications save us the cost associated with installation of cabling and those derived from changes in the physical environment, which could still be most important.
Mobility. Wireless communications allow you to have information in time real and in any place in the world. This functionality can allow many companies to improve their productivity and its business possibilities.
Comfort. The fact of being able to do without the cables that connect the devices makes With the use of wireless communications, important convenience is acquired.
Scalability. Wireless communications are easily adaptable to topology changes the network and, in addition, the relocation of the terminals is greatly facilitated.

2.3.Limitations of the wireless communications compared to traditional ones

The main limitations that we can find in the wireless communications are the following:

Consumption. Mobile terminals usually work with batteries that limit the transmission power of the devices, which has a direct impact on the reach of the networks.
Limited transfer capacity. The electromagnetic spectrum is a resource limited.
Quality. Wireless transfers are subject to interference and noises.
Security. The use of the electromagnetic spectrum as a means of communication involves that anyone can access the information without any type of limitation physics.

3.Past, present and future of wireless communications

3.1.The past of the wireless communications

If we go back thousands of years, we will see that our ancestors already They used smoke as a wireless communication system for long distances.

Obviously, we will not start our review from that far away; we we will look at events related to electricity and electronics, which are the background that most We are interested in relation to the topic at hand:

In 1896, the Italian Guglielmo Marconi transmitted and received the first signal local radio in Italy.
In 1924, NBC established the first radio network with twenty-four seasons.
In 1925 the first television demonstration was held.
Since 1947, tests of the mobile telephone service were carried out, but until 1983 The first one was not marketed.
The origin of WLANs dates back to 1979, when the results were published from an experiment done by IBM engineers who created a local network with infrared in a factory.
In the early 1990s, a consortium of leading companies (IBM, Intel, Toshiba, Ericsson and Nokia) created Bluetooth technology, which was later The EEE has incorporated the 802.15.1 standard.
In 1994, the first draft of the IEEE 802.11 standard appeared.
In 1995 MoviStar and Airtel began to operate over GSM in Spain; three years Later, Amena joined this technology.
In 2001, GPRS service was provided in Europe.
In 2002, 3G (UMTS) was commercially launched in most of the European countries.
Since 2005, UMTS networks have evolved from HSPA technologies with the main goal of increasing data transmission speed.
In 2006 the first draft of 802.11n appeared, which supported speeds next at 600 Mbps.
In 2011, the Bluetooth 4.0 standard appeared, which stands out for the reduction significant of battery consumption and for a maximum transmission speed greater than 300 Mbps.
In 2012, the first 4G tests began to be carried out.
In 2015, the first 5G tests begin.
In 2016, the Bluetooth 5.0 standard was introduced. One of its objectives is to allow the massive development of the “internet of things” (IoT).
In 2018 the deployment of 5G networks begins.

Evolución de las comunicaciones inalámbricas

Evolution of wireless communications

3.2.Present and future of wireless communications

Wireless communications have grown spectacular in the last years. There are currently more than seven billion communications contracts MWLAN mobiles worldwide; fact that has allowed a very significant increase of the applications and services that are carried out from this means of communication, which is within the reach of most people. Mobile technology is, by far, difference, the information and communications technology sector that more changes it has experienced in the last twenty years.

At the same time, mobile devices, such as smartphones, smart watches (smartwatches) or tablets, have also benefited from this growth and are currently can find on the market a wide variety of mobile devices that allow you to run and view high-performance network applications, such as television in high definition and 3D games, which require great computing power. From the In 2016, a multitude of applications related to reality are being developed augmented reality (virtual storefronts, Pokémon GO, etc.) and virtual reality (video games, simulators of all kinds, etc.). The use of applications has also increased voice (VoIP, voice over internet protocol) such as WhatsApp, Telegram or Skype, some of which also incorporate video conference. As a consequence, mobile phone contracts have appeared that they reduce the cost of the data rate in exchange for increasing the cost of the rate of voice.

In any case, it is important to highlight that at this time we are in full phase of evolution of this communication technology, since it is expected that in the year 2020 have deployed 5G networks, a fact that will further increase the possibilities of new applications that will allow generating a high volume of business from of this infrastructure.

In recent years, two of the most in-demand new professions are: the expert in mobile technology and mobile application developer. These professionals They have to be able to build custom mobile applications, design strategies business with a mobile architecture and guarantee information security between different devices.

Regarding mobile application development, currently There are three trends. The first requires specific programming knowledge depending on the platform. native to the mobile device, for example, Swift and Objective-C for iPhone iOS, or Java for Android. The second trend is to program in HTML5, which allows cross-platform web development; that is, the same code Programming can be used on iPhone, Android or BlackBerry iOS. The third is to use environments that use a common programming language for the generation of native applications for different platforms. As examples of this trend we have Xamarin, for generic application development, and Unity for development of video games.

Summary

One of the most important events in technologies of the information of recent years has been the expansion of wireless communications as a method of information exchange. One of its main advantages lies in non-dependence wiring, since the entry point to the communications network is not located linked to a physical location. The transmission medium is now ready, without being the creation of prior infrastructure is necessary.

Little by little, this technology has gained a lot of prominence within the possibilities of doing business, and have been the services and applications that are developed about them those who have marked the present and will also determine their future.

Glossary

3GPP3 (third generation partnership project) m: Technology that was created to drive the preparation and maintenance of a range complete list of applicable technical specifications for a 3G mobile system based on evolved core GSM networks.
IMS bands (industrial, scientific and medical bands) f pl: Frequency bands authorized by international organizations in which there is take into account that the power of these frequencies is within a non-harmful range for health.
Bluetooth m: Wireless technology with very limited range, normally no more than 10 meters, which allows you to connect two devices at a very acceptable speed. It was created by a consortium of leading companies, such as IBM, Intel, Toshiba, Ericsson and Nokia.
DETC (digital enhanced cordless telecommunications) f: Personal area technology frequently used in telephone devices wireless for home use, which usually operate with a range of no more than 50 meters.
EDGE (enhanced data rates for GSM of evolution) m: Technology that provides higher bandwidth than GPRS, between 236 kbps and 384 kbps, which allows you to run applications that require higher transfer speeds such as video and other multimedia services.
electromagnetic spectrum m: Frequency range of all electromagnetic waves that can propagate through through free space, ordered according to their wavelength and frequency.
FCC (Federal Communications Commission) f: United States federal agency responsible for regulating the telecommunications industry, including frequency management and the development of spectrum utilization rules.
GSM (global system for mobile communications) m: Second generation (2G) WWAN standard that allows the transmission of voice, data and short SMS messages (short message system).
GPRS (general packet radio service) m: Generation 2.5 WWAN standard that uses the GSM radio infrastructure to achieve transfer speeds of 115 Kbps. Allows pay-as-you-go services of the amount of information sent and, thanks to its data switching technology packages, allows you to always be connected to Internet resources.
HomeRF m: Personal area network standard that enables wireless voice and data transfer; facilitates the integration of devices such as computers and telephones.
HSDPA (high speed packet access) m: Optimization of UMTS/WCDMA spectral technology, included in the specifications of 3GPP version 5, which consists of a new shared channel in the downlink (downlink) which significantly improves the maximum capacity of information transfer until reaching rates of 14.4 Mbps, supporting average transmission rates close to at 1 Mbps.
HSPA (high speed downlink packet access) m: Combination of subsequent and complementary 3G technologies, such as HSDPA or HSUPA.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) m: International association of engineers, made up of more than 300,000 members and more than 300 countries, which regulates communication standards.
infrared (IR) m: Range of frequencies greater than 300 GHz of the electromagnetic spectrum, used in short-haul point-to-point communications; They are very addressable and cannot cross obstacles.
IoT (internet of things): Scenario where all types of devices have connectivity, whether on the internet and/or each other, to send or receive information. Connected devices can be of any type, such as mobile devices, household appliances, systems home automation, vehicles, components of a more complex device, etc.
IrDa f: Association of 160 companies that focus on developing communications standards wireless infrared (IR).
ITU (International Telecommunications Union) f: International body responsible for managing the different frequencies of the spectrum electromagnetic.
LTE (long term evolution) m: Evolution of the 3GPP UMTS (3G) standard and a new concept of evolutionary architecture (4G).
microwave (MW) f pl: Part of the electromagnetic spectrum of frequencies above 1 GHz and below at 300 GHz, where many wireless communications are found, including WLAN and satellite communications.
NFC (near field communication) m: Technology that allows data transmission in a simple way between different devices via a radio frequency link in the 13.56 MHz ISM band.
radio frequency (RF) f: Part of the electromagnetic spectrum between the frequencies of 10 MHz and 300 MHz, where These include, among others, radio and television signals.
UMTS (universal mobile telephony system) m: Third generation (3G) WWAN standard that allows wireless transmission of multimedia services and high-speed Internet access.
WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) m: Technology in which data and voice are transmitted over broadband, divided into packets before transmission. These packets are assembled at the terminal before presenting the information.
WiMAX (worldwide interoperability for microwave access) m: Technology that allows connections to be made over long distances, with large widths of band and without requiring direct line of sight between antennas.
WLAN (wireless local area networks) m pl: Wireless local networks that allow the transmission of digital data wirelessly between fixed and/or mobile devices (computers, peripherals, etc.). They are a complement and/or an alternative to local wired networks. They have a medium range (hundreds of meters) and must be able to operate at high speed (comparable to wired LANs), reliability and security. They have a higher cost than WPANs.
WPAN (wireless personal area networks) m pl: Wireless personal networks that allow personal devices (phones) cell phones, electronic agendas, accessories, etc.) communicate. They have a scope limited (few meters), low cost and the devices are generally equipped of batteries and great mobility.
WWAN (wireless wide area networks) m pl: Wide-range wireless networks that allow devices to connect geographically very far away. The devices can be fixed (radio links or satellites are used) or mobile (GSM, GPRS or UMTS networks). Since they have a large scope, there may be many users connected to the services simultaneously.
Zigbee m: Technology that enables wireless networks with control and monitoring capabilities that are secure, with low energy consumption and low processor cost, so bidirectional.

Wireless communication systems

What this guide covers

Introduction

Definitions