Katana VentraIP

Wireless

Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (telecommunication) between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most common wireless technologies use radio waves. With radio waves, intended distances can be short, such as a few meters for Bluetooth or as far as millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications. It encompasses various types of fixed, mobile, and portable applications, including two-way radios, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and wireless networking. Other examples of applications of radio wireless technology include GPS units, garage door openers, wireless computer mouse, keyboards and headsets, headphones, radio receivers, satellite television, broadcast television and cordless telephones. Somewhat less common methods of achieving wireless communications involve other electromagnetic phenomena, such as light and magnetic or electric fields, or the use of sound.

"Over the air broadcasting" redirects here. For the technology over the air television, see Terrestrial television.

The term wireless has been used twice in communications history, with slightly different meanings. It was initially used from about 1890 for the first radio transmitting and receiving technology, as in wireless telegraphy, until the new word radio replaced it around 1920. Radio sets in the UK and the English-speaking world that were not portable continued to be referred to as wireless sets into the 1960s.[1][2] The term wireless was revived in the 1980s and 1990s mainly to distinguish digital devices that communicate without wires, such as the examples listed in the previous paragraph, from those that require wires or cables. This became its primary usage in the 2000s, due to the advent of technologies such as mobile broadband, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.


Wireless operations permit services, such as mobile and interplanetary communications, that are impossible or impractical to implement with the use of wires. The term is commonly used in the telecommunications industry to refer to telecommunications systems (e.g. radio transmitters and receivers, remote controls, etc.) that use some form of energy (e.g. radio waves and acoustic energy) to transfer information without the use of wires.[3][4][5] Information is transferred in this manner over both short and long distances.

Infrared and ultrasonic remote control devices

Professional LMR () and SMR (Specialized Mobile Radio) are typically used by business, industrial, and Public Safety entities.

Land Mobile Radio

Consumer including FRS Family Radio Service, GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service), and Citizens band ("CB") radios.

Two-way radio

The Service (Ham radio).

Amateur Radio

Consumer and professional .

Marine VHF radios

and radio navigation equipment used by aviators and air traffic control

Airband

and pagers: provide connectivity for portable and mobile applications, both personal and business.

Cellular telephones

(GPS): allows drivers of cars and trucks, captains of boats and ships, and pilots of aircraft to ascertain their location anywhere on earth.[18]

Global Positioning System

Cordless computer peripherals: the cordless mouse is a common example; wireless headphones, keyboards, and printers can also be linked to a computer via wireless using technology such as or Bluetooth.

Wireless USB

sets: these are limited-range devices, not to be confused with cell phones.

Cordless telephone

Satellite television: Is broadcast from satellites in . Typical services use direct broadcast satellite to provide multiple television channels to viewers.

geostationary orbit

Common examples of wireless equipment include:[17]

Applications[edit]

Mobile telephones[edit]

One of the best-known examples of wireless technology is the mobile phone, also known as a cellular phone, with more than 6.6 billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide as of the end of 2010.[19] These wireless phones use radio waves from signal-transmission towers to enable their users to make phone calls from many locations worldwide. They can be used within the range of the mobile telephone site used to house the equipment required to transmit and receive the radio signals from these instruments.[20]

Bibliography - History of wireless and radio broadcasting

Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose - The man who (almost) invented the radio

at Curlie

Wireless