IASNOVA
1.WiFi
- range of about 20 meters (66 feet) indoors and a greater range outdoors
- Wi-Fi most commonly uses the 2.4 gigahertz (12 cm) UHF and 5.8 gigahertz (5 cm) SHF ISM radio bands
- can be time-shared by multiple networks
- more vulnerable to attack (called eavesdropping) than wired networks
- Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is a family of technologies created to protect information moving across Wi-Fi networks and includes solutions for personal and enterprise networks.
- The 802.11 standard provides several distinct radio frequencies ranges for use in Wi-FI communications: 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 3.6 GHz, 4.9 GHz, 5 GHz, 5.9 GHz, and 60 GHz bands
- Wi-Fi transmitters are low power devices
2.Zigbee
- International standard IEEE 802.15.4
- Developed by Zigbee Alliance
- Industry Industrial, scientific and medical
- Physical range ——-10 to 20 meters (approx)
Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks with small, low-power digital radios, such as for home automation, medical device data collection, and other low-power low-bandwidth needs, designed for small scale projects which need wireless connection. Hence, Zigbee is a low-power, low data rate, and close proximity (i.e., personal area) wireless ad hoc network.
- simpler and less expensive than other wireless personal area networks (WPANs), such as Bluetooth or more general wireless networking such as Wi-Fi.
- The name refers to the waggle dance of honey bees after their return to the beehive
- Zigbee is a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh network standard targeted at battery-powered devices in wireless control and monitoring applications. Zigbee delivers low-latency communication.
3.Bluetooth mesh networking
- Physical range- 100-1000 meters (depending on mesh relaying configuration)
- It is a protocol based upon Bluetooth Low Energy that allows for many-to-many communication over Bluetooth radio.
- Messages have a time to live (TTL)
- Bluetooth Mesh is a flood network
4.WiFi Direct
Wi-Fi Direct, initially called Wi-Fi P2P, is a Wi-Fi standard enabling devices to easily connect with each other without requiring a wireless access point. Wi-Fi Direct allows two devices to establish a direct Wi-Fi connection without requiring a wireless router. Hence, Wi-Fi Direct is single radio hop communication, not multihop wireless communication, unlike wireless ad hoc networks and mobile ad hoc networks. Wi-Fi ad hoc mode, however, supports multi-hop radio communications, with intermediate Wi-Fi nodes as packet relays.
- Wi-Fi Direct has become a standard feature in smart phones and portable media players, and in feature phones as well.
5.WiFi HaLow
IEEE 802.11ah is a wireless networking protocol published in 2017 to be called Wi-Fi HaLow as an amendment of the IEEE 802.11-2007 wireless networking standard. It uses 900 MHz license exempt bands to provide extended range Wi-Fi networks, compared to conventional Wi-Fi networks operating in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. It also benefits from lower energy consumption, allowing the creation of large groups of stations or sensors that cooperate to share signals, supporting the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT). The protocol’s low power consumption competes with Bluetooth and has the added benefit of higher data rates and wider coverage range
6.EnOcean
The EnOcean technology is an energy harvesting wireless technology used primarily in building automation systems, and is also applied to other applications in industry, transportation, logistics and smart homes. Modules based on EnOcean technology combine micro energy converters with ultra low power electronics, and enable wireless communications between batteryless wireless sensors, switches, controllers and gateways.
7.Z-Wave
Z-Wave is a wireless communications protocol used primarily for home automation. It is a mesh network using low-energy radio waves to communicate from appliance to appliance, allowing for wireless control of residential appliances and other devices, such as lighting control, security systems, thermostats, windows, locks, swimming pools and garage door openers.Its useful for Internet of Things(IoT). -Z-Wave is designed to provide reliable, low-latency transmission of small data packets at data rates up to 100kbit/s.
8.Bluetooth – asked in UPSC prelims earlier
Physical range—— Typically less than 10 m (33 ft), up to 100 m (330 ft)
Bluetooth 5.0: 40–400 m (100–1,000 ft)
Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 2.400 to 2.485 GHz from fixed and mobile devices, and building personal area networks (PANs).
9.LiFi
LiFi is a wireless optical networking technology that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for data transmission.The key technical difference is that Wi-Fi uses radio frequency to transmit data.
Benefits of LiFi:
- Higher speeds than Wi-Fi.
- 10000 times the frequency spectrum of radio.
- More secure because data cannot be intercepted without a clear line of sight.
- Prevents piggybacking.
- Eliminates neighbouring network interference.
- Unimpeded by radio interference.
- Does not create interference in sensitive electronics, making it better for use in environments like hospitals and aircraft.
10.Project LOON
Loon LLC is an Alphabet Inc. subsidiary (Google) working on providing Internet access to rural and remote areas. The company uses high-altitude balloons placed in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 18 km (11 mi) to create an aerial wireless network with up to 4G-LTE speeds. It was named Project Loon, since even Google itself found the idea of providing Internet access to the remaining 5 billion population unprecedented and “loony”.
11.InfraRed
Infrared (IR) is a wireless mobile technology used for device communication over short ranges. IR communication has major limitations because it requires line-of-sight, has a short transmission range and is unable to penetrate walls. IR transceivers are quite cheap and serve as short-range communication solutions.
Because of IR’s limitations, communication interception is difficult. In fact, Infrared Data Association (IrDA) device communication is usually exchanged on a one-to-one basis. Thus, data transmitted between IrDA devices is normally unencrypted.
IR light-emitting diodes (LED) are used to transmit IR signals, which pass through a lens and focus into a beam of IR data. The IR beam data is received by an IrDA device equipped with a silicon photodiode. This receiver converts the IR beam into an electric current for processing.
12.EtherNet – asked earlier in UPSC Prelims
Ethernet is the traditional technology for connecting wired local area networks (LANs), enabling devices to communicate with each other via a protocol — a set of rules or common network language.Compared to wireless LAN technology, Ethernet is typically less vulnerable to disruptions — whether from radio wave interference, physical barriers or bandwidth hogs. It can also offer a greater degree of network security and control than wireless technology, as devices must connect using physical cabling .
13.LTE- Long Term Evolution
Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals, based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA technologies. It increases the capacity and speed using a different radio interface together with core network improvements.
-LTE is commonly marketed as 4G LTE & Advance 4G, but it does not meet the technical criteria of a 4G wireless service.
– LTE is also commonly known as 3.95G.
14.WiMAX- asked in UPSC prelims earlier
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide multiple physical layer (PHY) and Media Access Control (MAC) options.
-a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL.
15.Evolved High Speed Packet Access
Evolved High Speed Packet Access, or HSPA+, or HSPA(Plus), or HSPAP is a technical standard for wireless broadband telecommunication.HSPA+ can achieve data rates of up to 42.2 Mbit/s.It introduces antenna array technologies such as beamforming and multiple-input multiple-output communications (MIMO). The technology also delivers significant battery life improvements and dramatically quicker wake-from-idle time, delivering a true always-on connection. HSPA+ is an evolution of HSPA that upgrades the existing 3G network and provides a method for telecom operators to migrate towards 4G speeds that are more comparable to the initially available speeds of newer LTE networks without deploying a new radio interface. HSPA+ should not be confused with LTE though, which uses an air interface based on Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access modulation and multiple access.
16. 5G
5G (from “5th Generation”) is the latest generation of cellular mobile communications. It succeeds the 4G (LTE/WiMax), 3G (UMTS) and 2G (GSM) systems. 5G performance targets high data rate, reduced latency, energy saving, cost reduction, higher system capacity, and massive device connectivity. The first phase of 5G specifications in Release-15 will be completed by April 2019 . The second phase in Release-16 is due to be completed by April 2020 .
How 5G works
Wireless networks are composed of cell sites divided into sectors that send data through radio waves. Fourth-generation (4G) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology provides the foundation for 5G. Unlike 4G, which requires large, high-power cell towers to radiate signals over longer distances, 5G wireless signals will be transmitted via large numbers of small cell stations located in places like light poles or building roofs. The use of multiple small cells is necessary because the millimeter wave spectrum — the band of spectrum between 30 GHz and 300 GHz that 5G relies on to generate high speeds — can only travel over short distances and is subject to interference from weather and physical obstacles, like buildings.
17.4G
G is the short name for fourth-generation wireless, the stage of broadband mobile communications that will supercede the third generation (3G ).
According to the International Telecom Union, a 4G network requires a mobile device to be able to exchange data at 100 Mbit/sec. A 3G network, on the other hand, can offer data speeds as slow as 3.84 Mbit/sec.
Related Technologies-(From UPSC previous years questions)
CDMA vs GSM vs LTE, What is the difference?
CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
is a “spread spectrum” for cellular networks enabling many more wireless users to share airwaves than alternative technologies.
GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)
is a wireless technology to describe protocols for cellular networks used by mobile phones with over 80% market share globally.
LTE (Long Term Evolution)
is a wireless broadband technology for communication of high speed data for mobile phones.
The main difference between the technologies is that both CDMA & GSM can support cellular and data, whereas LTE can only support data.
