Week 8: Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Wireless, Mobile Computing, and Mobile Commerce

1. Wireless technologies include both wireless devices (smart phones) and wireless transmission media (microwave, satellite, and radio). These technologies have changed the way businesses operate and function in the modern world.
Wireless technologies have several applications to business-
Firstly, wireless technologies enable employees to communicate anytime and anywhere via wireless networks, providing organisations a strategic advantage by increasing productivity and speed and improving customer service.
Secondly, wireless technologies promote mobile commerce such as e-commerce transactions within the wireless environment.

2. Wireless transmission media/technologies, transmit signals without wires over the air or in space.
The various types of wireless media are:

• Microwave- microwave transmission systems are commonly used for high-volume, long distance, line-of-sight communication. They are susceptible to environmental interference and their towers cannot be more than 30miles apart.
• Satellite- satellite transmission systems utilize communication satellites.
  At the moment, there are three types of satellites around the earth:
  1. Geostationary (GEO),
  2. Medium earth orbit (MEO), and
  3. Low earth orbit (LEO).
  Satellites must transmit and receive data via line-of-sight. However, since satellites cover a larger area of the earth, they overcome the limitations of microwave data relay stations. Satellites are also high enough for broadcast transmission.
• Infrared- is red light that is not normally visible to the human eye. It is commonly used in remote control units for televisions, VCRs, DVDs and CD players as well as mobile phones for file-share. Infrared transmission is used for short-distance connections between computers and peripheral equipment.
• Radio- radio transmission uses radio-wave frequencies to send data directly between transmitters and receivers. It is inexpensive and easy to install and can transmit data at high speeds.

3. What is bluetooth? Bluetooth is an industry specification used to create small personal area networks. How is it used? Bluetooth can link up to 8 devices within a 10 metre area using low-power, radio-based communication. Bluetooth is used for common applications such as wireless handsets and filesharing for mobile phones and portable music players.

4. Wireless local area network (WLAN) - is a computer network in a limited geographical area that uses wireless transmission for communication.
Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) - is a set of standards for wireless local area networks based on the IEEE 802.11 standard.
Wireless wide-area networks (WWANs) - connect users to the Internet over geographically dispersed territory and operate over the licensed spectrum. These networkscan be placed into two categories: cellular radio and wireless broadband.
3rd Generation (3G) - of mobile telephony standards facilitate growth, increase bandwidth, and support more diverse applications. 3G networks enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency.

5. The drivers of mobile computing and mobile commerce are:

• Widespread availability of mobile devices
• No need for PC- users can now access the Internet via a smart phone or other wireless device.
• The “cell phone culture”- the widespread use of cell phone.
• Declining prices- the price of wireless devices is declining.
• Bandwidth improvement- Wi-Fi, 3G cellular technology, and WiMax provide the necessary bandwidth for transmitting text, voice, video, and multimedia.

6. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is a wireless technology that allows manufacturers to attach antennas and computer chips on goods and then track their movement through radio signals. The nature of RFID systems allow them to use tags with embedded microchips, which contain data, and antennas to transmit radio signals over a short distance to RFID readers. The readers pass the data over a network to a computer for processing.