Portable Electronics: World Class Designs

Chapter 4. Radio Communication Basics

Few if any technologies have impacted our lives more in the 21st century than wireless communications. In 2008 for the first time there were more cell phone subscribers worldwide than registered landlines. People now take being connected for granted. A wide range of RF interfaces enable you to communicate—whether by voice or data—almost anywhere on earth.As in any period of rapid change, keeping up with the changes requires constant attention. In his book Wireless Networking Technology Steve Rackley does a particularly good job of sorting out a multitude of wireless networking technologies, explaining the protocols, implementations and applications. This chapter gives a good overview of the problems involved ...