Prepared by Vardan Hovsepyan Wireless ApartmentArea Network Wireless Apartment Area Network

Technology Overview Today there are a number of solutions which can be used for the wireless home network. They are designed for either Personal Area Networks (PANs) or Local Area Networks (LANs). Typical network coverage in the PAN is up to ten meters, but the performance varies depending on the standard employed.

StandardsData RateRange Mbps~10 meters Mbps~10 meters The IEEE standard (also called Bluetooth) is primarily used for unwiring computing and communication peripherals, such as a computer to a printer or a handset to a headset. Bluetooth is rated up to 1 Mbps. The second standard, the IEEE standard (also called ultra-wide band-UWB), is designed for delivering multimedia services. UWB supports data rates over 400 Mbps.

Typically Wireless LANs (also called Wi-Fi “Wireless Fidelity”) service more applications and users than PANs and cover a greater distance than PANs up to 100 meters. The IEEE standard was designed specially for Wireless local area network. StandardsData RateRadio frequencies aup to 54 Mbps5 GHz bup to 11 Mbps2.4 GHz gup to 54 Mbps2.4 GHz nup to 540 Mbps2.4 GHz or 5 GHz The a standard operates in the 5-GHz frequency band with a maximum 54 Mbps rate. (Currently not approved for use in Sweden)

The b standard operates in the 2.4-GHz Industrial, Scientific and Measurement (ISM) band and provides rates of up to 11 Mbps. This is a very commonly used frequency. The cordless phones, medical and scientific equipment, as well as Bluetooth devices, all work within the 2.4- GHz ISM band. The g standard is similar to b, but this standard supports data rates of up to 54 Mbps. It also operates in the heavily used 2.4-GHz ISM band but uses a different radio technology to boost overall throughput. It is compatible with b. The n standard operates in either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency band. The n standard builds upon previous standards by adding MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output). The real data throughput is estimated to reach a theoretical 540 Mbps, and should be up to 50 times faster than b, and up to 10 times faster than a or g. The standardization process is expected to be completed by the second half of 2008.

Solution Definition For definition of the most suitable solution for wireless apartment network it is necessary to compare the features of the mentioned technologies as well as to take into account the specific requirements such as data rates support for HD-TV, coverage, simplicity and cost of deployment. The first criterion for the selection of the solution is the possibility to use the HD-TV and at least two computers at the same time. It means that wireless network must have at least Mbps bandwidth, since Mbps is necessary for provision of HD-TV and at least 10 Mbps for each PC or laptop.

The second criterion is the coverage requirement. The wireless network must cover the whole apartment area which can make about 100 squire meters in multi-room apartments and more in private houses. The table shows the features of technologies based on which the most suitable wireless solution for apartment area network will be defined.

Analyzing the table and guided by our criteria and requirements we come to the following conclusion. Bluetooth is not applicable for the apartment wireless network needs, since it has very low data rate and coverage. UWB provides high data rate but its coverage is very limited, it can be used for one room apartments only. Wi-Fi technology with 4 standards: a standard works at 5 GHz frequency which is not authorized in Sweden b standard does not support the required data rate g standard meets our requirements on bandwidth and coverage and can be used for the wireless apartment network, moreover there are models supporting Supper G technology allowing to increase throughput up to 108Mbps.

802.11n standard is the best one for building apartment wireless network, since it supports 540 Mbps data rate and has large coverage, however it can be used only in the second half of 2008 when the standardization process is completed. Therefore, the analysis reveals that for the time being the most suitable solution for the wireless network implementation in apartments is Wi-Fi technology, in particular its g standard. It is worth to mention that n standard is more preferable for near future.

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