Granatstein V.L. Physical principles of wireless communications

Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2012. - 305p.Wireless communications is based on the launching, propagation, and detection of electromagnetic waves usually at radio or microwave frequencies. It has its roots in the middle of the 19th century when James Clerk Maxwell formulated the basic laws of electromagnetism (viz., Maxwell’s equations) and Heinrich Hertz demonstrated propagation of radio waves across his laboratory. By the start of the 20th century, Guglielmo Marconi had invented the wireless telegraph and sent signals across the Atlantic Ocean using reflection off the ionosphere. Subsequent early embodiments of wireless communication systems included wireless telephony, AM and FM radio, shortwave radio, television broadcasting, and radar. Engineering breakthroughs after World War II including launching artificial satellites, the miniaturization of electronics, and the invention of electronic computers, led to new embodiments of wireless communication systems that have revolutionized modern lifestyles and created dominant new industries. These include cellular telephones, satellite TV beaming, satellite data transmission, satellite telephones, and wireless networks of computers.
The present textbook presents descriptions of the salient features of these modern wireless communication systems together with rigorous analyses of the devices and physical mechanisms that constitute the physical layers of these systems. Starting with a review of Maxwell’s equations, the operation of antennas and antenna arrays is explained in sufficient detail to allow for design calculations. Propagation of electromagnetic waves is also explored leading to useful descriptions of mean path loss through the streets of a city or inside an office building. The principles of probability theory are reviewed so that students will be able to calculate the margins that must be allowed to account for statistical variation in path loss. The physics of geostationary earth orbiting (GEO) satellites and low earth orbiting (LEO) satellites are covered in sufficient detail to evaluate and make first-order designs of satellite communications (SATCOM) systems