Wireless Technologies and Standards

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Last Updated on July 9, 2018 by Admin

Welcome

Managing a wired infrastructure can be challenging. Consider what happens when a worker needs to relocate to a different location in his/her office, or when he/she wants to bring a notebook to a meeting room and connect to the network there. In a wired network, you need to move the network connection cable to the new location in the worker’s office and make sure there is a network connection available in the meeting room. To avoid these physical changes, wireless networks have become the preferred mode of connection.

This module covers the following topics:

  • Why wireless is important
  • Technical aspects of wireless technologies
  • Features of each wireless LAN standard

This module contains the following pages:

  • Presentations: Nine recorded video presentations created by presenters.
  • Activity and Additional Resources: When appropriate, instructions are provided for an activity intended to reinforce concepts shared by the presenters. Links to additional resources are also provided as a convenience to learners. The appearance of external links does not constitute endorsement by Cisco, nor does Cisco exercise any editorial control over the information found at these external sites.
  • Quiz: A quiz to check your understanding of key concepts presented in the module.

Course Outcome

Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:

  • Understand the need and benefits of Wireless technologies
  • Understand the technical aspects of Wireless technologies
  • Understand Wireless Local Area Network (LAN) standards

Video – Why Wireless

Business networks today have evolved to support people who are on the move. Employees and employers, students and faculty, government agents and those they serve, sports fans and shoppers, all are mobile and many of them are “connected”. This was the vision of mobility-all environment, and a reality today where people are demanding connectivity anytime and anywhere.

Video – Wireless Technologies

Now that we understand the importance of wireless technologies and communications for Networking and the future Digital Economy, we now deep dive into the technical aspects of wireless communications and technologies.

Note : In the presentation, the author uses the term ‘bandwidth’ in different contexts. Below is definition of bandwidth according to the respective context.

1. In computing, bandwidth is the bit-rate of available or consumed information capacity expressed typically in metric multiples of bits per second. Variously, bandwidth may be characterized as network bandwidth, data bandwidth,or digital bandwidth.

2. In field of wireless communications, modem data transmission, digital communications, and electronics, bandwidth is used to refer to analog signal bandwidth measured in hertz, meaning the frequency range between lowest and highest attainable frequency while meeting a well-defined impairment level in signal power.

Video – Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Avoidance

The challenges of transmitting in a wireless medium make it necessary to have a access control method to effectively transmit and manage wireless communications.

Video – Wireless LAN Standards

The popularity of Wireless LAN is indisputable in this current Internet age, and even more so in the Digital Economy. Do you know what drives this development?

The author traces the evolution of the standards behind this important development in the video.

Activity

More about 5GHz Band

You have heard that the 2.4 GHz band is heavily used and very crowded, in part because it provides only three non-overlapping channels. Do a search on the Internet and find out as much details on the 5GHz band. For example, ask yourself these questions :