Wireless Data Communication

The prospects for wireless data communication appeared as early as

1985 when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released
its resered industrial! scienti"c and medical (#S$) radio spectrum %ands
for unlicensed use. &oweer! the idea was not fully e'plored until (une
199) when the #nstitute of *lectrical and *lectronics *n+ineers (#***)
formally directed its ,-./$-. Standards Committee (#*** 801) to study
the feasi%ility of hain+ an "over-the-air interface between wireless clients
and base stations". Su%se2uently! the "ndin+s of the committee was
compiled and later came to %e 3nown as the 801.11 Standard 4 a
document that speci"ed +uidelines! protocols! interopera%ility amon+
wireless deices and other technical data related to the technolo+y.
5ireless Fidelity or 5iFi was %orn.
Upon its inception! 5iFi e'perienced some deployment issues such
as low data transfer rates! interference from other wireless streams! etc.
%ut these and more were 2uic3ly and systematically addressed ia a
series of architectural reisions such as 801.11a! 801.11%! etc. From the
end user6s perspectie! the ca%lin+ mess had %een drastically reduced
and restricted only to mission critical systems such as serers! %ac3ups!
etc. 5or3stations were no lon+er in the con"nes of a ca%led networ3 and
could %e moed a%out anywhere within the ran+e of the transmitter
(7100m) and theoretically! up to 158 wireless deices could lin3 up to a
sin+le transmitter. 9y early 100:! the technolo+y had proen its worth as
was re;ected %y mar3et response. $any %usiness outlets %e+an proidin+
free access to the net ia 5iFi (a.3.a &otSpots) as a part of their own alue
added serice.
#n the four year span %etween 199) and 1000! internet usa+e had
increased %y a%out 500< and that6s a%out 80million new users lin3in+ up
eery year. The cause of this %alloonin+ of the =lo%al #nternet Community
can %e lar+ely attri%uted to the una%ated online adent of actiities such
as %an3in+! shoppin+! education! meetin+s! etc. that were traditionally
terrestrial. This coupled to the fact that more and more people are
continuously moin+ a%out %etween places and need access to arious
online serices without comprisin+ on mo%ility. Thus the feature of %ein+
connected anytime>anywhere was fast %ecomin+ a need. The +oal here
was to proide %road%and we% access %eyond the con"nes of an
enclosure (room! o?ce) or the limited ran+e of a @&otSpot6. This presented
an imminent challen+e to the #*** 801 Standards Committee! which in
1001 released the #*** 801.1A Standard that addressed these
re2uirements.
5orldwide #nteropera%ility for $icrowae -ccess (5i$-B) is a
wireless architecture that went lie around mid>1008! %ased on the #***
801.1A Standard (1001). -part from its o%ious ran+e adanta+e oer
5iFi! 5i$-B is more tolerant of interference! more %andwidth e?cient!
proides +reater ran+e (upto 503m) and %etter +lo%al support due to ease
of deployment and ia%le economic model
-s mentioned earlier! the mi+ration from static internet to mo%ile
internet is not an easy tas3 simply %ecause current mo%ile technolo+y
caters mainly to oice and small data e'chan+es such as short messa+in+
serice (S$S) and with recent hardware improements some audio>ideo
as well. The underlyin+ pro%lem here is that transmission issues arise at
hi+h ehicular speeds and that6s where the latest reision of 5i$-B!
3nown as 801.1Am or $o%ile 5i$-B 1.0 has a clear adanta+e. -lthou+h
e'pected only around early 1011! %ut it already promises impressie
"+ures such as data access rates of upto 1 =%ps from within a ehicle
that6s moin+ at up to :50 3m/h.
5ith this impressie speci"cation sheet and more! 5i$-B is fast
%ecomin+ the choice medium for cost>eCectie deliery of hi+h speed
%road%and access to remote and emer+in+ re+ions of the world.
WiMAX Technology
The technolo+y itself is not an entirely new concept. #t is an
adaptation of 5i9DE (Wireless Broad%and)! an air modulation techni2ue
that was already %ein+ used in South Forea with much success. 5ith the
formation of 5i$-B ForumG a international non>pro"t or+anisation! in (une
1001! 5i9DE and other related technolo+ies mer+ed and 5i$-B was
esta%lished. The forum directly administers the standards for 5i$-B
deployment worldwide %y certifyin+ %road%and wireless products for
compati%ility and inter>opera%ility.
For certi"cation! these products must pass throu+h any one of the
si' Wi$-B Forum Desi+nated Certi"cation La%oratories (5FHC,s)
worldwideG -T8 5ireless (Spain I U.S)! Telecommunications Technolo+y
-ssociation (TT- > S.Forea)! China -cademy of Telecommunications
Desearch (C-TD > China)! -danced Hata Technolo+y Corporation (-HTC >
Taiwan) and S#D#$ J-S! $alaysia. -fter successful testin+! only then can
such deices carry the K5i$-B Forum Certi"edK mar3! else they can only
display L5i$-B DeadyM or L5i$-B Compati%leM.
5i$-B was initially deployed as a "'ed .on>,ine>Ef>Si+ht (.,ES)
serice. Unli3e traditional %road%and! it did not re2uire a pre>e'istin+ land
line telephony serice to carry data si+nals %etween #SN and end user. -s
with cellular networ3s! the set up consists of strate+ically located
transmission %ase stations and as lon+ as the 5i$-B receier was within
the transmission Oone! connectiity was possi%le. From a technical
perspectie! "'ed 5i$-B can %e considered as a 5iFi on steroids. 9oth
are microwaes! their receier>transmitter systems share similar
architecture e'cept for the former %ein+ more powerful in eery sense.
#n cellular networ3s! the receier is not con"ned to one Oone and is
a%le to moe %etween Oones as one %ase station transfers coera+e to
another %ase station as the receier traels %etween Oones. Unli3e cellular
systems! "'ed 5i$-B architecture did not showcase this feature and as
the demands +rew for a truly mo%ile internet! the 5i$-B Forum then
esta%lished the 801.1Ae architecture or $o%ile 5i$-B. This is the current
standard and will %e around until its replacement! $o%ile 5i$-B 1.0
arries around early 1011.
The followin+ ta%le summarises the pertinent diCerences %etween
the : types of 5i$-B architectures. Followin+ that! each type is %rie;y
outlined.
Fixed WiMAX
o For "'ed and nomadic applications (outdoor and indoor).
Caters for day>to>day moement seen in homes/o?ces e.+. 1
st
;oor to 1
nd
;oor! hall to +arden! etc.
o N&P technolo+y 4 EFH$ 15A
o A8J-$! 1AJ-$! JNSF! and 9NSF modulation schemes
o 1.15$&O to 10$&O channel %andwidths
o 5i$-B pro"les for 1.5=&O! :.5=&O and 5.8=&O
o THH/FHH/&H>FHH
o Supports %oth point>to>point and point>to>multipoint access
o Juality of Serice (JoS) leels 4 %est eCort! non>real>time
pollin+ serice! real>time pollin+ serice! unsolicited +rant
serice
Mobile WiMAX
o For porta%ility and mo%ility (includin+ handoC and roamin+) as
seen in we%>ena%led deices such as note%oo3s! mo%iles! etc.
Caters for on>the>moe pedestrians and ehicles.
o N&P technolo+y 4 scala%le EFH$- 118! 511! 1018! 1088
o #mproes .,ES coera+e %y utiliOin+ adanced antenna
diersity schemes! and &y%rid>-utomatic Detransmission
De2uest (&-DJ)
o #ncreases system +ain %y use of denser su%>channeliOation!
there%y improin+ indoor penetration
o #ntroduces hi+h>performance codin+ techni2ues such as Tur%o
Codin+ and ,ow>Hensity Narity Chec3 (,HNC)! enhancin+
security and .,ES performance
o #ntroduces downlin3 su%>channeliOation! allowin+
administrators to trade coera+e for capacity or ice ersa
o #mproes coera+e %y introducin+ -daptie -ntenna Systems
(--S) and $ultiple #nput $ultiple Eutput ($#$E) technolo+y
o *liminates channel %andwidth dependencies on su%>carrier
spacin+! allowin+ for e2ual performance under any DF channel
spacin+ (1.1$&O to 18$&O)
o Desistance to multipath interference can %e enhanced %y
employin+ *nhanced Fast Fourier Transform or FFT al+orithm!
which showcases +reater tolerance for delay spreads.
The Market for WiMAX
$id>1008 saw $alaysia6s "rst deployment of 5i$-B. The serice
was proided %y Nac3et =reen 9hd under the la%el N1 5i$-B. Since then!
a num%er of companies hae %e+un proidin+ 5i$-B serice! namely
D*Htone #nternational 9hd! PT, e>Solutions 9hd and -siaspace Hotcom
Sdn 9hd. The $alaysian Communication and $ultimedia Commission
($C$C) administers the use of the airspace and has allocated the 1.:=&O
to 1.8=&O spectrum with a 15$&O %andwidth to these proiders. The
many features of 5i$-B mentioned earlier (deployment! ran+e! data rates
and mo%ility) helps it to position itself as a worthwhile alternatie to other
wireless solutions currently in the mar3et such as pu%lic hotspots! :=! etc.
$o%ile 5i$-B howeer! faces a diCerent playin+ "eld alto+ether
with the launch of TH>,T* (Time>Diision Lon+>Term Eolution) or 8= for
short as %oth are head>to>head in terms of performance and furthermore!
8= is heaily patronised %y $o%ile Telco proiders! as its easier to up+rade
to 8= support compared to switchin+ oer in the case of 5i$-B. ,i3ewise
for cellular manufacturers who hae to inest more in DIH to incorporate
5i$-B technolo+y in their handhelds. Ene feature that is in faour of
$o%ile 5i$-B is Qo#N (Voice oer Internet Protocol) i.e. the a%ility to
utilise the #nternet Nrotocol to ma3e oice calls to land lines or handhelds.
Microstrip
- microstrip has %een considered for use in the desi+n of this
deice. #t is a planar transmission line or simply statedG an electrical
transmission line that carries microwae +rade fre2uency si+nals throu+h
circuit %oard interconnections and is
easily fa%ricated %y photolitho+raphic
processes or more commonly %y usin+
printed circuit %oard technolo+y.
#n its simplest form! it consists
of a conductin+ strip which is
separated from a +round plane %y a
dielectric layer 3nown as the
su%strate. See "+ure oppositeR
$icrowae components such as antennas! couplers! "lters! power
diiders etc. can %e formed from microstrips. #t all depends on the pattern
of metalliOation on the su%strate. Ene occurrence that is particularly
important in this desi+n conte't is that of @microstrip losses. ,osses here
mean the loss in ener+y when resistiity is encountered in a material
placed in a aryin+ electric "eld.
Three possi%le types of losses can occur in a microstrip lineR
dielectric su%strate loss! conductor loss and radiation loss.
Dielectric Substrate Loss: is de"ned as a loss of ener+y which
eentually produces a rise in temperature of a dielectric placed in an
alternatin+ electrical "eld. ,osses can %e minimised %yG (a) usin+ thic3er
su%strates with lower dielectric constants (
r
) e.+. alumina! 2uartO! or
sapphire as these will produce wider and thus lower loss transmission
lines. &oweer this will cause increased radiation at hi+her fre2uencies!
+eneration of hi+her order modes in the lines and discontinuitiesG (%)
Su%strates with smoother ed+es.
Conductor Loss: is a result of seeral factors related to the
metallic material composin+ the +round plane and walls! amon+ which are
conductiity! s3in eCects and surface rou+hness. 5ith "nite conductiity!
there is a non>uniform current density startin+ at the surface and
e'ponentially decayin+ into the %ul3 of conductie metal. This is the
alle+ed s3in eCect and its eCects can %e isualiOed %y an appro'imation
consistin+ of a uniform current density ;owin+ in a layer near the surface
of the metallic elements to a uniform s3in depth! S. To minimiOe conductor
loss while simultaneously minimiOin+ the amount of metallic material
;an3in+ the dielectric! the conductor thic3ness should %e +reater than
appro'imately three to "e times the s3in depth. The fa%rication process
of microstrip deices creates scratches and %umps on the metal surfaces.
The inside surfaces of the strip conductor and the +round plane facin+ the
su%strate repeat the shape of the su%strate. The current! concentrated in
the metal surface ne't to the su%strate! follows the uneen surface of the
su%strate and encounters a +reater resistance compared to the case of a
smooth su%strate. -s the rou+hness of the surface increases! the len+ths
of the current path increases and cause the losses to increase.
Radiation Loss: increased radiation such as that which results
from the use of low
r
dielectrics contri%utes to this form of loss. Dadiation
losses depend on the dielectric constant! the su%strate thic3ness and the
circuit +eometry and can %e minimised %y the use of hi+h dielectric
constant su%strate materials as most of the *$ "eld is concentrated in the
electric "eld %etween the conductie strip and the +round plane.
Since microstrip losses are multi>factorial! a handsome trade>oC must %e
considered %etween the aforementioned factors to achiee a microstrip
with low net loss.
Solid State Devices
Hiodes! Transistors! Chips! etc. are referred to as solid state deices
due to their solid desi+n and construction characteristics which are ery
unli3e +lass tu%es of the acuum tu%e era that were suscepti%le to %urn>
outs! %rea3s! etc. These aforementioned deices howeer! account for Tust
a small part of the pantheon of solid state electronic deices in the
mar3et.
Bipolar transistor
This %ipolar transistor was Tointly deeloped %y Shoc3ley!
9ardeen and 9rittain in 1988. #t is widely used in hi+h
fre2uency applications such as in microwaes. For e'ample!
the Si %ipolar Tunction transistor (9(T) is useful for fre2uencies
ran+in+ from Ultra &i+h Fre2uencies (U&F) (i.e. hundreds of
me+ahertO) to the B %and (8>11=&O) while -l=a-s/=a-s
heteroTunction %ipolar transistor is useful to oer 100=&O.
The maTority of %ipolar transistors are either fa%ricated from Si
or =a-s %ased epita'ial material and sport a more or less
+eneral
structural
desi+n
consistin+ of three separately doped re+ions and two Tunctions
that are close enou+h for interactions to occur %etween them.
The doped re+ions are 3nown as the emitter! %ase and
collector and %ased on the dopin+ style! can %e either pnp or
npn. For hi+h fre2uency applications! npn is preferred %ecause
the operation of the deice is dependent upon the a%ility of
minority carriers to diCuse across the %ase re+ion for which
electrons are %est suited as they hae superior transport
characteristics.
-ppearance wise! the %ase is ery thin! and its dopin+ is
moderate unli3e other elements. The %ase proides the %ase
current and thus is the control element of the entire deice
and without it there will %e no current ;ow in the circuit. -s a
current>controlled deice! its current +ain U (hfe) is a function
#c/#%. #n linear %ias condition! the emitter>%ase Tunction is
forward %iased and the collector>%ase Tunction is reerse
%iased. Under these conditions! the collector current is
appro'imately 95< to 99< of the emitter current. The deice
is considered to %e a conentional ampli"er.
Silicon %ipolar .N. deices hae an upper cut>oC fre2uency at
a%out 15=&O. &oweer! at hi+her fre2uencies "eld>eCect
transistor (F*T) is more prefera%le. The primary limitations at
hi+her fre2uencies that e'ist in %ipolar transistor are %ase and
emitter resistance! capacitance and transit time.
&eteroTunction %ipolar transistors hae %een desi+ned with
much hi+her ma'imum fre2uencies. The improements are %y
scalin+ down the siOe of the deice and narrowin+ widths of
the elements within the transistor. Further improement is
chan+in+
the
conentional construction +eometry in the way to control
widths and other pro%lem associated with hi+h fre2uency
wor3. Ene of popular +eometric is the inter>di+ital construction
which yields thin wide>area low>resistance %ase re+ions that
increase the operatin+ fre2uencies. The pitch! or emitter>to>
emitter centreline spacin+! controls the hi+h performance
aspects of transistor. Finer pitches result in more +ain and a
lower noise "+ure at hi+her fre2uencies. The num%er of
emitter "n+ers controls the current>handlin+ a%ility of the
deice and is a measure of output power capa%ility. Heices
with lar+er num%ers of "n+ers are suita%le for power
applications such as transmitter sta+es while deices with
small num%ers of "n+ers operate at lower %iases and are often
the choice of %attery>operated applications V1W.
Field Efect transistor (FET
This type of transistor relies on an electric "eld to control the
shape of a channel. The shape determines the conductiity of
a channel of one type of char+e carrier in a semiconductor
material. F*T deices are maTority>char+e>carriers and consist
of an actie channel throu+h which maTority char+e carriers!
electrons or holes! ;ow from the source to the drain. Source
and drain terminal conductors are connected to
semiconductor throu+h Ehmic contacts. The conductiity of
the channel is a function of potential applied to the +ate.
-n F*T has three terminals! Source (S) throu+h which the
maTority carriers enter the channel. Conentional current
enterin+ the
channel at S
is desi+nated
%y #
=S
G Hrain
(H) throu+h
which the
maTority
carriers leae
the channel.
Conentional
current enterin+ the channel at H is desi+nated %y #
HS
. Hrain to
Source olta+e is Q
HS
G =ate (=) the terminal that modulates
the channel conductiity. 9y applyin+ olta+e Q
=S
to =! one
can control #
HS
.
To contrast their sin+le>carrier>type operation with the dual>
carrier>type operation of %ipolar (Tunction) transistors (9(Ts)!
F*Ts are sometimes called unipolar transistors. #t is interestin+
to note that the concept of the F*T predates the 9(T! thou+h it
was not physically implemented until after 9(Ts due to the
limitations of semiconductor materials and the relatie ease of
manufacturin+ 9(Ts compared to F*Ts at that time.
There are a num%er of F*T ariants currently aaila%le in the
mar3et. The most popular of these in the conte't of
microwae applications! are mentioned %elowR
o !"nction FET (!FET
The (F*T is the most common type of "eld>eCect
transistor in use today and has a rather simpli"ed
desi+n as well. #t can %e made to function as an
electronic switch or resistor %y controllin+ the olta+e at
its terminals. The electrical principle %ehind its function
is simpleG The space %etween KsourceK and KdrainK
terminals acts as a
semiconductin+
channel
for
electric
char+e
and when
a %ias
olta+e is
set at the K+ateK
terminal! the channel
@narrows6 so as to impede or totally stop current ;ow as
shown. Further e'planation follows. The (F*T wor3s on
the depletion re+ion. The re+ion in this matter is an .>
type material! while the +ate is of N>type material. The
+ate lead connects to the N>type material. Deerse %ias
is normally applied to the +ate>source Tunction. The
applied electric "eld e'tends into the depletion re+ion
and controls the leel of current reachin+ the drain.
o Metal#$xide#%e&icond"ctor FET (M$%FET
The $ESF*T is another common F*T %ased transistor
used primarily in amplifyin+ or switchin+ circuits. #t
consists of an o'ide>insulated +ate electrode which
induces a conductin+ channel %etween the LsourceM and
LdrainM contacts when a olta+e is applied to it. The
channel can %e of n>type or p>type and is accordin+ly
called an n$ESF*T or a p$ESF*T (also commonly
n$ES! p$ES). The "+ures %elow illustrate this function
in an n$ES deice.
#n an n$ES deice! the source and drain are XnYX
re+ions and the %ody is a XpX re+ion. 5hen su?cient
+ate olta+e is reached! holes in the %ody are drien
away from the o'ide +ate! formin+ an inersion layer or
n>channel at the interface %etween the p re+ion and the
o'ide. This conductin+ channel e'tends %etween the
source and the drain! and current is conducted throu+h
it when a olta+e is applied %etween source and drain
contacts. #ncreasin+ the olta+e on the +ate leads to a
hi+her electron density in the inersion layer and
therefore increases the current ;ow %etween the source
and drain.
o Metal %e&icond"ctor FET (ME%FET
Hesi+n>wise! $*SF*Ts resem%le (F*Ts. #nstead of usin+ a
p>n Tunction +ate! a Schott3y (metal>semiconductor)
Tunction is used. - useful feature of $*SF*Ts is that they
can operate in microwae fre2uency re+ions of up to 85
=&O! and therefore are commonly used for
communications and radar. The introduction of =a-s has
further enhanced the hi+h fre2uency opera%ility of
$*SF*Ts! %y hain+ hi+her>mo%ility carriers and smaller
siOed transistor which in turn has led to low>noise
characteristics and improed temperature sta%ility
durin+ hi+h power operations. The most crucial desi+n
aspect of the $*SF*Ts is the +ate width and len+th.
These considerations decide their performance
characteristics in hi+h fre2uency applications. =enerally!
shorter +ate len+ths result in superior performance.
=ate width! on the other hand determines the deices
electrical properties such as trans>conductance (+
m
)!
saturated drain current (#
dss
)! Nower producin+ capa%ility!
S>parameters and optimum operatin+ fre2uency. *ach
type of +ate dimensions +ies rise to a particular mas3
type! and its common practice to mi' and match mas3
types to diCerent processes to e'tract desired
performance characteristics.
o 'i() Electron Mobilit* Transistor ('EMT
There are two hi+h performance F*Ts aaila%le
nowadays which are the hi+h electron mo%ility transistor
(&*$T) and the pseudomorphic hi+h electron mo%ility
transistor (p&*$T). The &*$T has hi+h power +ain and
capa%le to operate at fre2uency up to 100=&O with low
noise leels. The deice is %uilt usin+ ion implantation!
molecular %eam epita'y ($9*)! or metal or+anic
chemical apor deposition ($ECQH). The p&*$T uses
the $9* material to create a =a-s>-l=a-s>#n-l=a-s
structure that results in superior mo%ility to standard
&*$T deices. This process is optimiOed for the lowest
noise "+ure for critical receier applications. .owadays!
the p&*$T has %een one of popular choice for most
radio applications utiliOin+ fre2uencies in microwae
fre2uency re+ion V1W.