Wireless Signals in Communication - Essay Example

College: Wireless communication is a sector growing with rapid speed. It has a history over a century only since Marconisent telegraph signals from Cornwall to Saint John located in Nufinland 1800 miles away on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in 1901. The discovery of vacuum tubes (in 1908), semiconductors (in the 1950s) and other electronic components lead to faster developments in wireless communication industry (Thorn, Arthur, Robert, and Nancy, 1989). Digital technology and the cellular communication network were the most revolutionary of all the developments in wireless communication, it has transformed wireless communication from the analog era to digital era. Radio-telegraphy was then discovered. Transmitters which were in the early times called spark-gap machines were developed mainly for ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communication (Thorn, Arthur, Robert, and Nancy, 1989). This facilitated communicating between two points; by that time it was not public radio broadcasting as we know it in modern days. Wireless signals were very effective in communication and helped a lot in rescue work when a sea disaster struck (Thorn, Arthur, Robert, and Nancy, 1989). Wireless equipment starts being installed along the oceans. In early years, United States Army set up wireless communications in New York. Later on, the United States Navy adopted a wireless system. Up to then, the Navy had been using visual signaling and homing pigeons for communication. The public, however, overwhelmingly liked the radio after its first broadcast (Sarkar, Mailloux, Oliner, Salazar-Palma, and Sengupta, 2006).  Radio became a product with high demand in market.  Manufacturers were amazed by the demand for receivers. Majority of families purchased radios.  Families gathered around their radios for night-time entertainment.  As radio ownership increased, so did the number of radio stations. The development of the radio was a huge step ahead in facilitating the broadcast of historic events to remote areas of the country. In US, the radio station first aired presidential election in 1920 and there after there was a rush to own radio station with newspaper companies and General Electric and Westinghouse owning majority (Sarkar, Mailloux, Oliner, Salazar-Palma, and Sengupta, 2006). Following that The U.S. Department of Commerce enacted the 1927 Radio Act that restricted private radio communications to the AM radio band. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was formed in order to issue radio licenses (Sarkar, Mailloux, Oliner, Salazar-Palma, and Sengupta, 2006). With radio people were able to get news read from newspapers. Classical music and church sermons took up the remaining programming. Daily newscasts became common on radio stations. Radio stations too start offering political commentaries and analysis of news events (Sarkar, Mailloux, Oliner, Salazar-Palma, and Sengupta, 2006). The radio station gained immediate popularity and became a favorite. However, with advancement in these fields mobile wireless communication was developed it became a real industry and the mobile telephones were sold as a real commodity (Sarkar, Mailloux, Oliner, Salazar-Palma, and Sengupta, 2006). As per now mobile wireless communication has gone through two generations in the past twenty years. And no it is headed for the third generation and even further. Mobile communication is very effective and it has enable people to communicate with distant relatives and friends (Sarkar, Mailloux, Oliner, Salazar-Palma, and Sengupta, 2006). With increased globalization majority of people go to foreign lands either to study or work or during first few days of adjustment you often have to communicate with relatives and family at home for both moral support and avoiding home sick (Sarkar, Mailloux, Oliner, Salazar-Palma, and Sengupta, 2006). Mobile telephony have also made life a lot easier whereby one can send money via mobile phone and mobile application have also made it possible to get news updates through subscriptions to popular news networks (Sarkar, Mailloux, Oliner, Salazar-Palma, and Sengupta, 2006). Increasingly, more people are becoming dependant on the internet not only for both their livelihoods and social life. It has been projected that mobile internet has will grow to a point that towards the end of 2013 internet access will more be via mobile devices and not PCs (Thorn, Arthur, Robert, and Nancy, 1989). Quick access to sites like face book are accepted and more people feel as though they are naked if they can not access or rather get online. For people who need to access the Internet every other time, Wi-Fi capability on a wireless phone has made it possible and easier to get online (Thorn, Arthur, Robert, and Nancy, 1989). Businessmen and workers who travel around the world e can quickly find information they need or can send sms and emails without necessarily having to find a place power up a laptop computer. When driving, one can simply look for parking lot of a building that offers free Wi-Fi access (Thorn, Arthur, Robert, and Nancy, 1989). In areas with low cell phone reception, the user can use the Wi-Fi network as alternative. The user will be able to avoid the problem of dropped calls or a signal going in and out of reception. With the introduction of Wi-Fi LAN, people get incredibly large amount of freedom because they can use it from anywhere even at their shopping mall (Thorn, Arthur, Robert, and Nancy, 1989). WIFI is also much helpful because it is not restricted to certain individual or groups. No matter who you are, you can use it. On top of Wi-Fi convenience it is fast, easier to use and most of all reliable (Thorn, Arthur, Robert, and Nancy, 1989). Moreover consumers are able to purchase products online. Companies have also benefited a lot from this technological advancement because they can easily market their products online and be able to reach millions of consumers all over the world. Wireless communication will play a key role in the future, especially in the battlefields and other areas. In order to survive in future battles, one ought to communicate effectively and to communicate effectively soldiers ought to be empowered with video, data and tactical broadband voice through 4G communication technology (Thorn, Arthur, Robert, and Nancy, 1989). 4G will provide a good vision for ground guidance, unit detection, soldier status and easy rescue of soldiers during battle. It will also be easy to monitor soldiers in the battlefield via board computer. Despite their importance, concerns have been raised about the possible negative health effects of excessive radio wave exposure with heavy criticism of cell phones, which transmit their voice and data signals over radio waves, and cell phone towers, which route and receive these signals (Thorn, Arthur, Robert, and Nancy, 1989). These technologies have been suspected that they might cause cancer. However experts disagree about the long-term effects of electromagnetic radiation generated communications infrastructure and they said that if there is a problem with cellular technology, it is certainly not coming directly from the towers (Thorn, Arthur, Robert, and Nancy, 1989). Those who personally use cell phones should worry of danger because the phones are directly against their heads. Works cited Thorn L. M, Arthur C. G, Robert W. M, and Nancy A. M. Wireless communication in the United States: the early development of American radio operating companies. London: New England Wireless and Steam Museum, 1989 T. K. Sarkar, Robert Mailloux, Arthur A. Oliner, M. Salazar-Palma, and L. Sengupta. History of Wireless: Volume 177 of Wiley Series in Microwave and Optical Engineering. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2006 Read More