Essay: Analysis Of IEEE 802.11 Standards, Spread Spectrum, And Antennas In Wireless Networking." (70 Characters)

Task 1 - Analysis of IEEE 802.11 Standards

Ubiquitous connectivity is the term which has been referred to the concept of wireless networking. The concept has been defined as one of the most transformative technology trends of the past times (Dobkin, 2011). This technology has also been considered as the availability and growing expectation of the ubiquitous connectivity.  Wireless connectivity has been considered as one of the most contemporary and updated version of communication. The below executed analysis has been made focused on the concept of wireless networking.

IEEE 802.11a

Irrespective of the fact that IEEE 802.11a provided very high data rate, it has been considered as less successful. IEEE 802.11 has been operated in 5GHz ISM band rather than 2.4 GHz and also was not entertained and due to which excessive chips were used.

Physical structure

12 access points can be functionalized simultaneously as 802.11a has 12 non-overlapping channels. No performance degradation will be done after adding more channels and larger number of users will also be accommodated (Mathias 2009). Point to point connections will be having 4 number of channels and 8 channels are there for indoor use. .

OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation encoding mechanism is used by IEEE 802.11a.

Advantages of IEEE 802.11a

The regulations in the frequencies rule out signal interference from other neighboring device and it also have the fastest has and maximum speed.

Disadvantage of IEEE802.11a

The expenses incurred are very high and also the short range signals are easy to interrupt.

IEEE 802.11b

IEEE 802.11b has been introduced as the first wireless LAN standard which was designed and developed in laptop and computers (Mitchell 2017). This mechanism is installed in corporates and also for personal use at homes and is being arrayed in the form of Hot Spots. The distance covered is 300 feet. 802.11b make use of CSMA/CA mechanism while transmission of date.

Physical Standard:

802.11b have a bandwidth of up to 11Mbps with a frequency of 2.4GHz. 32 users per access point is the capacity (Obaidat & Nicopolitidis, 2016). 11 Mbps is the data rate of IEEE 802.11b.

DSSS and CCK modulation encoding mechanisms is used by IEEE 802.11b.

Advantage of IEEE 802.11b

The expenses incurred are very low and the signal range is hard to be interrupted.

Disadvantage of IEEE802.11b

The maximum speed is very slow and the home appliances will be interrupted when there are unregulated frequency bands.

IEEE 802.11g

IEEE802.11g is a combined result of 802.11a and 802.11b. The expenses incurred are comparatively less. 802.11g can be installed in the area where the coverage of range is problematic and the environments are very less polluted.

Physical structure:

Task 2 - Spread Spectrum and Modulation

54Mbps is the bandwidth of 802.11g and it has a frequency and higher range of 2.4GHz. A hike in the distance is observed with a decrease in the data rate. Overlapping channels are used by by 802.11g which also allow three access points for operating without obstruction.

DSSS and PBCC modulation encoding mechanism are used by IEEE 802.11g.

Advantage of 802.11g

Speed provided is maximum and along with this no disruption s there in the signal range  and due to which it comparatively is good (Soyinka, 2010).

Disadvantage of 802.11g

Disruption is experienced in the devices during the time of unregularly in the frequency of signal. The expenses are high as compared to 802.11b.

IEEE 802.11n

IEEE 802.11g.802 is an improved and updated version . There is an increased signal intensity due to the good range.

Physical structure:

5GHz is the frequency and. 600Mbps is the bandwidth of 802.11n. 

DSSS, CCK and OFDM are the techniques of modulation encoding techniques used by IEEE 802.11n.

Some of the prime innovations introduced in 802.11n are:

• Introduction of MIMO access point.
• A wider bandwidth.
• Antenna Technology
• Data capacity range is brought to minimum level due to the Condensed support for backward compatibility.

There are three antennas with two spatial streams of MIMO (Multiple In and Multiple Out). 40 MHz channels are also provided and also the block acknowledgements are supported (Theodore, 2010).

Advantage of IEEE802.11n

Maximum length of the signal is one of the biggest advantage and opposition is more to the signal obstruction received surroundings.

Disadvantage of IEEE 802.11n

The expenses incurred are more and there is interference with the other networks due to the multiple signals.

On the basis of the comparison of all the wireless LANs it has been inferred that WLAN 802.11n standard will be attaining the position of dominant players in the future (Waterhouse, 2013). And this is due to the provision of good throughput and range along with authenticity in the range of configurations 802.11n. There is a decline in the cost of 802.11n gradually. A high level of performance is offered 802.11n channels comparatively to other wireless LANs.

1.5times are the distance which is covered by the than the access points of 802.11n and other IEEE standards. All the major features are included mostly in 802.11n.

A very significant role is played by 802.11n in the upcoming years cellular networks as the dependency of the carriers is on Wi-Fi to deceive voice and data.

Spread Spectrum has been considered as the type of modulation which aids in transmission of data with a bandwidth much greater as compared to the bandwidth of the original data. Signal becomes noise resistance due to this. Mobile devices and wireless networks make use of these modulation schemes. The below described are two most used techniques of spread spectrum:

Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)

Task 3 - Types of Antennas

The transmitter enables the conversion of an entrance of data flow into a character flow and description of bunch of bits is done by each character.

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FSSS)

Transmission of one or more data packets is the prime and basic function of FHSS moreover, this is done at a particular bearing frequency and then bounce to one more frequency, and again the data packets are send and the process is kept in continuation form.

Physical Standards:

Description of FHSS is done in the 2.4GHz band as it is performing done over 79 frequencies defining in IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.11d.Modulation of frequencies is done with a bandwidth of 1MHz.

Description of DSSS is done in 2.4GHz band as it is performing over 14 carriers which are defined in IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.11d. 22MHz is the bandwidth for the modulation of rates.

Noise Immunity:

FHSS systems function with Signal to Noise Ratio of 18dB is the function of FHSS system, whereas, 12 dB is for the DSSS function.

Throughput:

A rate of 11Mbps is transmitted by DSSS and 3Mbps is the rate for FHSS.

Bluetooth:

Bluetooth radio operates in 2.4GHz band. When DSSS executes a transmission, it is using 22MHz and when FHSS executes a transmission, it is using 1MHz (Zacker, 2012).

An antenna can be defined as a device that converts radio-frequency to alternating electric current and electric current into the frequency. There are many criteria’s by which classification of types of antennas is done (Zacker, 2012). Along with this, there are transmitter antenna and receiver antenna.

Transmitter antenna takes alternating current and converts it into radio frequency field.

Receiver antenna changes radio frequency into alternating current.

The four types of antennas used in wireless technologies. They are:

1. Dipole antenna
2. Spiral antenna
3. Horn antenna
4. Planar Inverted-F antenna

Dipole Antenna-

Dipole antenna calculates half wavelength from one end to the other. The antenna is bilaterally symmetrical and so is balanced.

 The frequency range of dipole antenna is VHF and UHF band. It is Omni-directional. Used as television antenna.

Advantages of Dipole Antenna:

They are very cheap and also provide high gain.

It always receives balanced signals

There are many design options in dipole antenna and we can design according to our convenience.

Disadvantages of Dipole Antenna:

They are large in size even at very low frequency.

Spiral Antenna:

Spiral antennas are used over a wide range of frequencies. They are known as spiral antennas because they have a shape of spiral. Also because of the windings they are very small in size. They provide a very high gain. The frequency range of this antenna is between 1GHz and 30GHz.They also has high gain. They are mostly used in military aircraft.

Advantages of Spiral Antenna:

They are small in size and have effective design.

They have wideband frequency.

Disadvantages of Spiral Antenna:

It gets very difficult to feed this antenna.

They cannot be transformed into free geometric shapes as they have a fixed shape.

Horn Antenna

Horn antenna consists of a metal waveguide which is in a shape of horn. The frequency range of horn antenna is in UHF band. Their aperture size is determined by the wavelengths. Mostly they are used in megaphones.

Advantages of Horn Antenna:

They offer a very high bandwidth.

They are simple to construct.

Disadvantages of Horn Antenna:

They have low impedance bandwidth.

They provide less efficiency and low power handling capacity.

Planar Inverted F-Antenna:

It is a linear inverted F antenna and consists of a plate because of which its bandwidth gets expand. It has Omni-directional pattern. It reduces backward radiation of a user. They support multiple bands of frequencies. Mostly used in medical applications.

Advantages of Planar Inverted F-Antenna

They reduce the backward radiations.

It provides high gain in both the directions.

Disadvantages of Planar Inverted F-Antenna

They have narrow bandwidth for few devices.

According to me, planar inverted F-antennas will be dominant in gaining the market in the future as they have a wider bandwidth and they use a plate rather than a wire. Along with this these antennas have much application. Apart from this, they reduce the backward radiations produced and hence do not affect the user’s body. They will be incorporated by PIN diodes and micro electromechanical system. Hence the features will be more enhanced.

Also, they are cheap and very easy to handle which make them prominent to use according to the future technologies.

References

Dobkin, M. (2011).RF Engineering for wireless networks. USA: Elsevier.

Mathias, C. (2009). Wi-Fi eyes global domination. Retrieved from https://www.networkworld.com/article/2248344/wi-fi/wi-fi-eyes-global-domination.html

Mitchell, B. (2017). Wireless Standards 802.11a, 802.11b/g/n. Retrieved from https://www.lifewire.com/wireless-standards-802-11a-802-11b-g-n-and-802-11ac-816553

Obaidat, M.S., & Nicopolitidis, P. (2016). Smart Cities and Homes: Key Enabling Technologies. USA: Morgan Kaufmann.

Soyinka, W. (2010). Wireless Network Administration: A Beginner’s Guide. USA: McGraw-Hill Companies.

Theodore, R.S. (2010). Wireless Communications. USA: Pearson Education.

Waterhouse, R. (2013). Micro strip patch antennas. NY: Springer Science & Business Media.

Zacker, C. (2012), CompTIA Network+ Rapid Review (Exam N10-005).UK: Pearson Education.