Radio & Cellular Communications

Radio & Cellular Communications

The post contains two asighnments

1:Radio & Cellular Communications

Learning Objectives:
? Explain the capabilities and limitations of two-way radio systems.
? Explain the capabilities and limitations of cellular communication systems.
? Be able to compare and contrast the main differences between the two.

Things to research and facts to know:
1. Wireless basics
a. Frequency Spectrum: “DC to Daylight”
b. FCC (http://wireless.fcc.gov/)
c. NTIA (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/osmhome.html)
2. Radio bands: frequencies / wavelength
Extremely Low Frequency: 3 – 30 Hz / 100,000m – 1000km
Super Low Frequency: 30 – 300 Hz / 1000km – 100km
Ultra Low Frequency: 300 – 3000 Hz / 1000km – 100km
Very Low Frequency: 3–30 kHz / 100-10km (submarines, beacons)
Low Frequency: 30–300 kHz / 10-1km (time & navigation signals)
Medium Frequency: 300–3000 kHz / 1000 – 100m (AM radio)
High Frequency: 3–30 MHz / 100m – 10m
Very High Frequency: 30–300 MHz / 10m – 1m (FM radio, TV)
Ultra High Frequency: 300–3000 MHz/ 100cm – 10cm (TV, wireless LAN)
Super High Frequency: 3–30 GHz / 10cm – 1cm (wireless LAN, microwave)
Extremely High Frequency: 30–300 GHz / 10 mm – 1 mm
3. Propagation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_propagation)

a. Line of sight
b. Radio horizon:
ARRL suggest 1.415, others just round up and use 2 as the multiplier.
An antenna at 6 feet can “see” a maximum of 3 miles over open/flat area.
20 feet provides 5½ miles. 500 feet provides 27 miles.
See the graphic at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:How_far_away_is_the_horizon.png

c. Ionosphere (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionosphere)
The outermost part of the atmosphere. Layers: D (day only, absorbs HF), E (day/night), and F (night) & F1, F2 (deforms during day).

d. Atmosphere absorption
See graphic at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atmospheric_electromagnetic_opacity.svg

e. Atmosphere interference (bending, bouncing)

f. Skip zones

4. Two-Way Radio Types

a. Analog & digital

b. Direct & repeater

c. Conventional & trunked radio

d. Bands: (aka FCC “Wireless Services”) include private land mobile (which contains public safety and industrial/business), amateur (“ham radio”), FRS/GMRS, and citizens band (CB – “Breaker, breaker one-nine, ya’ got a Smokey in a plain brown wrapper at milepost sixty-seven.”).

5. Cellular Communications

a. Macrocell, Microcell, Picocell, and Femtocell (longest practical range is 20 miles)

b. TDMA & CDMA

c. GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications [AT&T]
(voice & SMS; majority of global market uses this standard)

d. Review the chart at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wireless_data_standards Look specifically for GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, LTE and HSPA+, and compare the speeds.

e. 4G: Review http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G. Note that no US cellular carrier meets the definition of 4G yet they all use the name. Why?

A thought about cellular standards:

China Mobile is the largest single mobile phone operator with the largest network and 781.08 million subscribers (1st quarter of 2014). China Mobile uses a GSM network and it building the 3G/4G network. The total number of mobile service subscribers in China from the top 3 companies is now over 1 billion. For comparison, the entire US population is about 318 million. China Mobile is also ranked number one based on revenue in excess of US$20 billion.

Vodaphone Group is number two mobile operator based on revenue at more than US$15 billion.

Samsung Electronics is the largest manufacturer of mobile phones with 31.3% of the global smartphone market share in 2013 and nearly 24% of the overall mobile phone manufacturing market.

China Mobile, Vodaphone Group and Samsung all have a strategic vision of GSM and LTE.

Weekly Schedule:

Session Topic/Objective Required Readings and Assignments
5

Oct 11 –
Oct 18 Topic:
Radio and cellular communications

Objective:
Explain the capabilities and limitations of two-way radio and cellular communication systems, and be able to compare and contrast the main differences. Readings:
? How far will this radio go? http://keith.robertory.com/?p=672
? Radio types and bands http://keith.robertory.com/?p=674
? Homeland Security Affairs, Interoperability: Stop Blaming the Radio (2007). Retrieved from https://www.hsaj.org/articles/153
? Radio Reference. (n.d.). Trunking basics. Retrieved from http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Trunking_Basics
? Understanding propagation. (More than you probably ever need to know) http://www.hamqsl.com/Understanding%20Propagation.pdf
? Propagation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_propagation
? Cellular communications http://keith.robertory.com/?p=676
? The possibility of 4G http://keith.robertory.com/?p=611
? Mobile applications on the rise in the enterprise http://www.business.att.com/content/whitepaper/mobile-applications-on-the-rise.pdf
? Comparison of wireless data standards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wireless_data_standards
? 4G (Take special note of the data speed requirements to be 4G) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G
? Software Defined Radio (EMAN620-2168 Group Project)
Assignments:
? Review Week 5 of Course Content.
? Respond to Week 5 Discussion.

2:DRAFT Critical Appraisal Table

Assignment Purpose: This assignment will provide you with the opportunity to summarize the critical appraisal of the selected papers retrieved/included from your literature search. The content of the critical appraisal table will be included in the CAPSTONE EBP poster.
Assignment Guidelines:
1. You will use the Critical Appraisal Table template for this assignment as shown on page 552 of the Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt Textbook (2015 edition). When making your table in Microsoft Word, you will need to set the page to “landscape” rather than “portrait.” You can simply use the Insert function in Word, select Table, and the number of columns/rows needed for your Critical Appraisal Table.
2. Type your PICOT question at the top of the table page (either in the header OR as the first line of the word document OR as the first row of the table [MERGE cells]). Populate each of the fields (columns) with the information from each article that supports your PICOT question. You may remove the “Conceptual Framework” column leaving 8 columns to complete.
3. Complete sentences should not be used in the columns. When abbreviations are used (e.g., IV, BMI) then at the bottom of the table you will need to have an explanation such as “Note: independent variable (IV); body mass index (BMI)”. This table will be more detailed than your final table that appears in the poster template but it is still brief! Refer to the various examples that have been given in the assigned articles.
4. The assignment will include ALL the studies that you retrieved/included in your literature search and intend to use for the CAPSTONE EBP Project. This will most likely be 7-12 papers.
5. Please be sure to name your file uploaded to the assignment dropbox in the following format: LastName_FirstName_AssignmentName_Date. For example: Dorn_Lorah_DRAFTCRITICALAPPRAISALTABLE_9.1.14
Grading: This is a graded assignment. The assignment is worth 10pts. Scholarly work is expected; thus, up to 2 pts will be deducted for poor grammar, spelling, typos and/or APA errors. The following grading criteria will be used to evaluate the assignment:
N513 Draft Critical Appraisal Table Grading Rubric
Organization (content for appraisal appropriately placed within table template) 2pt
Clarity (writing is concise and clearly conveys intended meaning) 2pts
Addresses assignment purpose (appraisal accuracy) 5pts
Follows assignment instructions 1pt

Communications