Wireless Standards and National Licenses

Abstract

Wireless standards have evolved from two major organizations—first among them is the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) for cellular technology. It is a partnership group that provides specifications allowing each national standard to evolve their standards based on 3GPP specifications. This body forms the primary basis for the smart phone and all of cellular. It came into existence since conventional methods used in other standard bodies cannot support the fast pace of change seen in wireless. The second set of standards is from world’s largest professional body known as the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers). It has a variety of standards related to wireless, electrical, health and safety due to RF radiation. IEEE also has many other standards not related to wireless. Standards that are related to LAN (Local Area Network) consist of 802.3 Ethernet, 802.11 WiFi, 802.15 Personal Area Network including ZigBee, MESH, and a family of Personal area standards. The Metro Area Network standard 802.16 WiMax currently specifies access to rural areas. All of these are described in detail in chapter 12. The IEEE 95.1C with focus on RF exposure relates to health and safety of the human population. This is an area that is not well understood by the public. It will be briefly discussed here but further elaborated in Chap. 7 Need for regulation and the issuing of license by national bodies is reviewed. It is based on technical aspects such as interference, related to radio waves. Constitutional requirements of every nation indicate the need to separate commercial and government (non-profit) licenses. Some of the advantages and limitations of unlicensed band such as 2.4GHz, are discussed. The word “unlicensed” is reviewed to show how regulatory bodies provide clear guidelines and have regulations such as limits on radiated power levels and use of algorithms to minimize and avoid interference while operating in unlicensed bands.