Radio Frequency Fundamentals for Wireless Networking
Robert J. Bartz · 2017
This chapter discusses the characteristics of RF and explains how far a radio signal will travel depending on various factors, the area covered by the RF propagation, and some of the factors determining how many clients or devices can use the RF signals for data communications. Radio frequency (RF) waves are used in a wide range of communications, including radio, television, cordless phones, WLANs, and satellite communications. RF is around everyone and everything, and comes in many forms. The use of Voice over Wireless LAN (VoWLAN) technology continues to increase in many wireless network deployments. This is an example of a hardware application. Voice technology on wireless networks is subject to latency. The number of connected devices in an area will also affect the access point capacity. A single access point covering a large area will potentially allow for a large number of devices connecting to the access point. The basic definition of receiver sensitivity is the measurable amount of RF signal usable by a receiver. More complex modulation and coding types will require better signals and are directly related to which signaling rate will be used to transfer the data.