Wireless Communications Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee essays

Wireless Communications Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee essays There are a number of wireless technologies in use for low- to high- bit-rate transmissions in residential, light commercial, commercial, and industrial applications. These include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee. While many experts are predicting that one standard will outdo the other, this paper describes the benefits of these technologies and explains the unique position each has in the wireless spectrum. Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) is a high-frequency wireless local area network (TechTarget). The Wi-Fi technology is rapidly gaining acceptance in many companies as an alternative to a wired LAN and can also be installed for a home network. Wi-Fi is specified in the IEEE 802.11b specification and is part of a series of wireless specifications together with 802.11, 802.11a, and 802.11g. All four standards use the Ethernet protocol and carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance for path sharing. Wi-Fi technology operates in the 2.4 GHz range offering data speeds up to 11 megabits per second. The modulation method selected for 802.11b is known as complementary code keying, which allows higher data speeds and is less susceptible to multipath-propagation interference than successors. Bluetooth is a specification that describes how devices such as mobile phones, computers, and personal digital assistants can be interconnected using a short-range wireless connection (TechTarget). Bluetooth requires that a low-cost transceiver chip be included in each device which transmits and receives in a band of 2.45 GHz that is available globally. In addition to data, up to three voice channels are available. Each device has a unique 48-bit address from the IEEE 802 standard. Connections can be point-to- point or multipoint. The maximum range is 10 meters. Data can be exchanged at a rate of 1 megabits per second. A frequency hop scheme allows devices to communicate in areas wi...