Wireless - Definition and Overview

Wireless is an old-fashioned term for a radio receiver, referring to its use as a wireless telegraph. The term was widely used in the UK, long after radio was being used for other signals, such as music.

History

The founding principles and inventions of wireless technology can be found in the lectures and patent record of the electrical engineer Nikola Tesla and in his 1916 deposition on the history of wireless and radio technology.

For more on the history of radio transmission, please see Radio: Invention and history.

Modern usage

In modern usage, the term refers to communication without cables or cords, chiefly using radio frequency and infrared waves. Common uses include the various communications defined by the IrDA and the wireless networking of computers.

Low-powered radio waves, such as those used in networking to transmit data between devices, are often unregulated. High powered transmission sources usually require government licenses to broadcast on a specific wavelength. The wireless platform has historically carried voice and has grown into a large industry, carrying many thousands of broadcasts around the world.

See also

• Radio
• Data corruption
• Federal Communications Commission
• Ultra Wideband
• Wireless campus
• WiMAX
• HIPERLAN
• HIPERMAN
• Wireless energy transfer
• Bluetooth
• DSRC
• Wireless networking
• WiFi
• IrDA

External links

• dBm to Watt Conversion Calculator (http://www.moonblinkwifi.com/dbm_to_watt_conversion.cfm) - Very useful in designing Wireless Links.
• Selecting a Wireless Antenna (http://www.radiolabs.com/Articles/wifi-antenna.html)
• Wireless Networking (http://bengross.com/wireless.html)
• Wireless Warrior (http://www.wireless-warrior.org)
• ITPRC Wireless Resource Center (http://www.itprc.com/wireless.htm)
• Mobile Mesh Networking (http://mark.cabiling.free.fr/mobilemesh)
• PDA Hotspots (http://www.wacklepedia.com/pdahotspots/pda_hotspots.htm) - List of websites that adjust to the small wireless PDA screen
• Who Invented Radio? (http://rfdesign.com/mag/radio_invented_radio/)
• Surfin': Who Invented Radio? (http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2003/10/10/1/)
• Wireless/PDA/Handheld/Messaging Info (http://home.nc.rr.com/woodsmall/WIRELESS.htm)

Suggested reading

Nikola Tesla On His Work With Alternating Currents And Their Application to Wireless Telegraphy, Telephony, and Transmission of Energy, Anderson, Leland, ed., 1992.

• Wireless, Broadband, PDA & Telephony Reference Books (http://home.nc.rr.com/woodsmall/WIRELESS.htm#REF)