[PDF] Wireless Networking: Introduction To Bluetooth And WiFi LINK
Chieko Topalian
The term was created by a marketing firm because the wireless industry was looking for a user-friendly name to refer to some not so user-friendly technology known as IEEE 802.11 and the name stuck. Wi-Fi, often referred to as WiFi, wifi, wi-fi or wi fi, is often thought to be short for Wireless Fidelity and the organization that paid for the marketing firm is sometimes referred to as the Wireless Fidelity Alliance Inc.
Bluetooth was specifically designed to eliminate wires and cables. Dr. Nils Rydbeck, Chief Technology Officer for Ericsson Mobile, along with Dr. Johan Ullman and Dr. Jaap Haartsen introduced the first Bluetooth protocol with their hands-free headset in 1999. This was the first introduction of a wireless audio streaming device.
With the rapid adoption of mobile devices, many organizations can now leverage data to better understand foot traffic patterns and behavior in a brick-and-mortar environment. This location information, based predominantly on 802.11 wireless and bluetooth standards, can be used to engage users and optimize marketing strategies. For retail, this can help combat trends such as the erosion of in-store sales to online retailers, who for years have had access to similar data via the analytics produced by online tools (e.g., click-through conversion rates from online advertising).
In this brief introduction we provided our view on the importance and impact of Wi-Fi technology. In the remainder of this paper we provide a holistic overview of the evolution of Wi-Fi technology and its applications. This is a huge area and it is very difficult to write a paper that includes every aspect of its history. As members of a pioneering research center in this field [6], we provide a historical perspective of evolution of Wi-Fi in the way that we experienced it in the past few decades (and the paper is driven by this personal lens). We approach this challenging task from three angles. First, how the physical (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) for wireless communications with Wi-Fi technology evolved and what were the novel wireless transmission technologies that were introduced in this endeavor. Second, how Wi-Fi positioning emerged as the most popular positioning technology in indoor and urban areas and how it has impacted our daily lives. Third, how other cyberspace applications, such as motion and gesture detection as well as authentication and security, are emerging to revolutionize human computer interfacing with the RF cloud of Wi-Fi devices.
Mobile telephony is now commonplace around the world. This wireless technology relies upon an extensive network of fixed antennas, or base stations, relaying information with radiofrequency (RF) signals. Over 1.4 million base stations exist worldwide and the number is increasing significantly with the introduction of third generation technology.