Radio Waves

• Although there is no clear-cut demarcation between radio waves and microwaves, electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 3 kHz and 1 GHz are normally called radio waves; waves ranging in frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are called microwaves.

• However, the behavior of the waves, rather than the frequencies, is a better criterion for classification.

• Radio waves, for the most part, are omnidirectional. When an antenna transmits radio waves, they are propagated in all directions.

• This means that the sending and receiving antennas do not have to be aligned. A sending antenna sends waves that can be received by any receiving antenna. The omnidirectional property has a disadvantage, too.

• The radio waves transmitted by one antenna are susceptible to interference by another antenna that may send signals using the same frequency or band.

• Radio waves, particularly those waves that propagate in the sky mode, can travel long distances.

• This makes radio waves a good candidate for long-distance broadcasting such as AM radio.

• Radio waves, particularly those of low and medium frequencies, can penetrate walls.

• This characteristic can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is an advantage because, for example, an AM radio can receive signals inside a building.

• It is a disadvantage because we cannot isolate a communication to just inside or outside a building. The radio wave band is relatively narrow, just under 1 GHz, compared to the microwave band.

• When this band is divided into subbands, the subbands are also narrow, leading to a low data rate for digital communications.

• Almost the entire band is regulated by authorities (e.g., the FCC in the United States). Using any part of the band requires permission from the authorities.

Omnidirectional Antenna

• Radio waves use omnidirectional antennas that send out signals in all directions.

• Based on the wavelength, strength, and the purpose of transmission, we can have several types of antennas. Figure shows an omnidirectional antenna.

Applications

• The omnidirectional characteristics of radio waves make them useful for multicasting,in which there is one sender but many receivers. AM and FM radio, television, maritime radio, cordless phones, and paging are examples of multicasting.

Microwaves

• Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between I and 300 GHz are called microwaves.

• Microwaves are unidirectional. When an antenna transmits microwave waves, they can be narrowly focused. This means that the sending and receiving antennas need to be aligned. The unidirectional property has an obvious advantage. A pair of antennas can be aligned without interfering with another pair of aligned antennas. The following describes some characteristics of microwave propagation:

• Microwave propagation is line-of-sight. Since the towers with the mounted antennas need to be in direct sight of each other, towers that are far apart need to be very tall.

• The curvature of the earth as well as other blocking obstacles do not allow two short towers to communicate by using microwaves. Repeaters are often needed for long distance communication.

• Very high-frequency microwaves cannot penetrate walls. This characteristic can be a disadvantage if receivers are inside buildings.

• The microwave band is relatively wide, almost 299 GHz. Therefore wider subbands can be assigned, and a high data rate is possible

• Use of certain portions of the band requires permission from authorities.

Unidirectional Antenna

• Microwaves need unidirectional antennas that send out signals in one direction. Two types of antennas are used for microwave communications: the parabolic dish and thehom (see Figure)

• A parabolic dish antenna is based on the geometry of a parabola:

• Every line parallel to the line of symmetry (line of sight) reflects off the curve at angles such that all the lines intersect in a common point called the focus.

• The parabolic dish works as a funnel, catching a wide range of waves and directing them to a common point.

• In this way, more of the signal is recovered than would be possible with a single-point receiver.

Applications

Microwaves, due to their unidirectional properties, are very useful when unicast (one-to-one) communication is needed between the sender and the receiver. They are used in cellular phones

Infrared

• Infrared waves, with frequencies from 300 GHz to 400 THz (wavelengths from 1 mm to 770 nm), can be used for short-range communication. Infrared waves, having high frequencies, cannot penetrate walls.

• This advantageous characteristic prevents interference between one system and another; a short-range communication system in one room cannot be affected by another system in the next room.

• When we use our infrared remote control, we do not interfere with the use of the remote by our neighbors.

• However, this same characteristic makes infrared signals useless for long-range communication.

• In addition, we cannot use infrared waves outside a building because the sun's rays contain infrared waves that can interfere with the communication.

Applications

• The infrared band, almost 400 THz, has an excellent potential for data transmission.

• Such a wide bandwidth can be used to transmit digital data with a very high data rate.

• The Infrared Data Association (IrDA), an association for sponsoring the use of infrared waves, has established standards for using these signals for communication between devices such as keyboards, mice, PCs, and printers.

• For example, some manufacturers provide a special port called the IrDA port that allows a wireless keyboard to communicate with a PC.