<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Help > Wireless Topics > Wireless Installations in RMS > Wireless Installation - Hardware > Wireless Communication Overview > What is Wireless Communication and how does it work?

Wireless communication is the transport of a signal without the use of wires. Signals propagate through the air from a transmitter to a receiver.

 

The signals are electromagnetic waves that are generated by a transmitter. Within the transmitter is an oscillator (the speed of the oscillator defines the wireless signal frequency) that generates periodic waves (current) that are sent to the transmitters antenna. The antenna converts the alternating current generated from the oscillator into an electromagnetic wave.

 

The antenna on the transmitter will radiate the signal in many different directions perhaps not directly to the receiver. The wave is propagated in the direction where the antenna directs the signal; the distance covered by the wave will depend on the strength of their energy.

 

The signal can be diffracted, lost, reflected or scattered depending on what is in its pathway. The closer the receiver is to the transmitter the denser the electromagnetic wave.

 

Once the signal reaches the receiver, the data is then decoded.

 

Higher frequencies can carry more information.

Lower frequencies can travel further.