Beaches are the most popular holiday destination. Fresh air, relaxed atmosphere, closeness to water and the nature makes it an evergreen attraction. For people of all ages.
Beaches sell themselves. They turn ordinary amneties into a luxury item.
As the flow tourists increase people start providing services. Soon we have beach side restaurants, beach side resorts, beach side shacks.
An entire ecosystem centered around the beach. It’s no surprise then that beaches form one of the most promising sources of revenue for travel industry.
With that insight it’s easy to see that digitizing beaches, making coastal internet connection more robust,will have more than one benefit. Not only will it encourage tourism but also offer more opportunities for commerce.
Beach internet can also serve as the starting point for wireless overhauls extending the network into the mainland.
As a beach wireless communication technology provider workrock helps build the digital beach ecosystem. For tourists. For coast guards. For water, sport organizers, for government, administrators. For anyone and everyone who loves the beach.
Our wireless hotspots work with any wireless capable device. Mobile phones, laptops and tablets. Anywhere you need. All the time. Our technology makes your beach experience better.
With Workrock’s beach network beaches will be more fun to explore. Our wireless beach technology helps :-
– The tourists by easing them into a new place. By helping them check out all the action that is happening on the beach and in the vicinity. Acquainting them with “the way” of your beach.
– Small business economy of restaurants and beach side hotels to advertise their products non intrusively.
– Local community by helping them become a part of a beach wide social network that encourages participation to preserve and promote the ecosystem. Helping regulatory authorities by digitizing licensing and application process.
Workrock wireless networks enable coastal connectivity end to end. Delighting both the tourists and the natives.
While there are more than 3.5 million ATMs worldwide their use as cash dispensers is on decline.
Due to cashless transactions fewer people feel the need to use an ATM for withdrawal. However ATMs are not completely redundant. They still have got some positives.
1. With features such as video banking, intelligent ATMs serve the purpose of a digital bank branch.
2. ATMs help with bank advertisement. Occupying not only valuable real estate in key locations but also featuring attractive display ads to increase brand recognition.
3. ATMs enable additional sources of revenue by serving as ad inventory for bank partners allowing them to display their own ads to consumers.
The challenge for banks is to upgrade their ATMs from being viewed simply as cash points to interactive digital kiosks enabling internet banking among other services.
Workrock provides custom built ATM computers with
1. Rich graphical support for high quality display ads. Hardware based cryptography support.Video banking features that can be added to make the machines more modern and interactive.
2. Fast networking. Ethernet, wifi, IPV6 enabled. Can be used to provide hotspot access to guests. Increasing the visitor flow.
3. Support for Linux. Reduces the operating costs by eliminating liscencing fees. Adding programmability and making them future proof. New features can be included as per the needs of the market.
All wireless communicationincluding wifioccurs due to electromagnetic interactions which is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature.
In simplest terms this means that a moving charged particle will have a magnetic field associated with it which will be perpendicular to the direction of charge.
[If charge is moving up and down the magnetic force will move sideways. If charged particle is moving sideways magnetic force will move up and down]
Similarly a changing magnetic field will have an electric force associated with it that will be perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field.
[In the figure above the electric charge represented by E in red moves up and down the magnetic field represented by B in blue moves sideways]
As a result of electromagnetism the charged and magnetic particles move forever. On and on like a wave. An electromagnetic wave.
This wave exhibits both electric and magnetic properties.
So that if you transmit a wave ,generated by an oscillating current, through an antenna at point “a” you can receive it ,as an oscillating current, from another antenna at point “b”.
The Mathematics
Now an electromagnetic wave has certain properties that can be represented mathematically. These are
Wavelength — Length of the wave between to symmetric points. Such as length between highs and lows.
Frequency — Number of times the wave oscillates/repeats.
Amplitude — The max height of the wave. How high/low can it go. Amplitude is related to strength of the wave.
Phase — The value of a wave at a particular time and a point. A wave is constantly changing. The phase determines it at a particular instant.
These properties allow us to perform calculations on waves. We can add,subtract and compare waves just like we do with real numbers.
The engineering
Engineering solves the practical problem of transmitting useful information on a wireless wave.
It does that by modulating the signal with information before transmitting it via an antenna.
The receiving antenna extracts the current from the wave which can then be demodulated into the information that was transmitted.
Wifi is concerned with providing the physical channel for transmission of information and a mechanism for accessing that channel.
[In osi model this corresponds to layer 1 and layer 2]
Some points to note
Wifi frequency like 2.4 gHz causes the current to oscillate 2.4 billion times per second before the wave is transmitted. At the receiver this oscillating current is converted into digital bits that can be understood by computer.
Most modern wifi devices use QAM to modulate (or transmit useful information on) both Amplitude and Phase of the wave.
Wifi is a shared channel access. Meaning a single channelis shared by multiple devices (known as carrier sense multiple access) but only one at a time (for collision avoidance)
References
Nice video explaining the engineering behind wifi modulation
Increasingly games are being sold digitally.All three major gaming companies Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have their own online stores.
Whereas digital stores should have enabled inclusivity it seems that they themselves are platform dependant. Apparently a company’s store only works on their own hardware.
While the sales of a console depends upon the quality of original titles,the third party developers shy away from exclusivity. They want their games to be available on as many platforms as possible. To as many people as possible.
And due to the increasing costs of game development cross platform tools are gaining popularity. With minimum effort a developer can release their title on multiple platforms.
There seems to be an inclination towards a convergence of platforms. Both from the consumers and game developers.
A Universal gaming OS. A Universal game distribution platform.
A demand from video game companies to succeed on the quality of their games not on the ownership of a platform.
While selling room nights remain the most popular model for hotels, alternatives such as conferences, dining and work spaces are increasingly becoming more lucrative as sources of supplemental income.
Video games and other forms guest entertainment in lobbies , hassle free internet connectivity for guests and provision for meetings can increase the appeal of a property in the eyes of a prospect. Making it something more than just a place to stay.
Spatial streams are separately encoded,independent data signals used for spatial multiplexing.
[Spatial multiplexing is a transmission technique in MIMO(Multi Input Multi Output)]
Spatial streams enable independent transmission and reception of data on a device. The goal is to increase the efficiency of the channel by enabling simultaneous transmission and reception.
[Spatial streams can be visualized as separate radios (and antennas) one handling transmission and the other reception for a device]
Why is it needed?
Traditionally a wifi channel can communicate with one device at a time. Sequentially. When communication is happening all the other devices have to wait in queue[1].
Moreover when a channel is being used by a device it can either transmit or receive but not do both. Spatial streams allow a single device to transmit and receive at the same time. All the other devices however are still waiting in queue.
Thus it can be said that in wireless communication spatial streams are meant for single devices. Client devices receive from and transmit to multiple antennas but still onlyoneat a time.
The parlellism that spatial streams introduce issingle device parlellism.This technology is called SU-MIMO where SU stands for single user.
[MU or multi user MIMO extends this parellism to multiple users. Enabling several devices to transmit and receive at the same time. ]
Application
In practical world, available bandwidth is rarely distributed by a single station. A network with its collection of access points is able to serve multiple users simultaneously.
Now while the devices still use channel sequentially, multiple access points mean that there are multiple queues of devices.This technique is the foundation for MU-MIMO which makes a single network capable of serving multiple users at once using streams.
Improvements in Wireless services not only mean a greater throughput to a device but also total increase in network capacity.Where we lack is in distribution of this speed equally among devices. We need to focus more on distribution than throughput.
Aggregation
Link aggregation allows us to introduce network redundancy. Multiple data lines are accessed from a single point. So that a user has a singular view of the network. For them its as if the data was available from a single provider. Although it may be that the data is infact being served by several different service providers.
The real benefit of aggregation is to provide network redundancy so that even if one provider goes down we can use others to keep the system online. Traffic may be distributed across different networks but that is only effective if all the networks are guaranteed to work at all times.
Uncomplicated, vendor neutral, interoperable messaging platform. Works on all devices. Online. Offline
soft talk is a programmable, api first messaging platform for digital organizations. Soft talk allows mobile network operators to provide Rich Content Messaging (RCM) services to their subscribers.
Built in interoperability ensures that soft talk platform is compatible with vendor deployments across the world. A uniform standardized core is supported by a flexible, programmable front end to allow each operator create while label, differentiated services to delight their customers.
soft talk’s support for presence, contact list, messaging, file transfer, gaming, content syndication and encryption allows it to be used in all kinds of industries.
soft talk’s not just a general messaging application for consumers but can be used in an enterprise setting for business communication as well.
Features
1.Integrated presence, address book and messaging features. Including store and forward. Content syndication, multi user chat and multimedia.
2.Decentralized but interoperable. Multiple soft talk machines may be deployed to distribute the load while at the same time remaining connected to the core of the service provider. The built in interoperability means that it can work across geographic regions, vendors and devices. So your subscribers will never feel left out of the loop.
3.Flexible. It can be used for general purpose messaging. Rich Content Messaging (RCM)support allows multimedia, file transfers, gaming and even social networking features. soft talk’s messaging technology can evolve into any form of communication demanded by the consumers and businesses alike. soft talk gives network operators ability to support personalized use cases.
4.Secure. soft talk can be used even for highly sensitive financial transactions. soft talk identifies users. It also has the capability to identify devices for use cases that require secure machine to machine transactions. It allows self registration of new subscribers but it can also support an administrator approval based workflow.
5.Standardized. Works over IP protocol suite. Compatible with IPV6. Understands HTTP. Although you will rarely feel the need, the protocol can be extended to support even more features.
The soft talk platform can be deployed on pre-configured machines in data centers. soft talk supports multiple machine architectures. arm,x86, risc etc. in case you need we also provide dedicated machines and soft talk servers to deploy on premise. All machines run high speed ssds and high volume hdd drives. They come with multi core processors to support high velocity communications between subscribers. Built in gigabit Ethernet and wifi cards allow the machines to communicate with each other either in a data center environment or as stand alone compute units deployed at client locations.
soft talk infuses new energy into the default messaging infrastructure. It gets rid of all the things holding mobile messaging back. No character limits. Free content sharing. Support for business communication and machine to machine messaging. soft talk is a future proof, stable messaging platform that just works.
It is a fundamental property of antennas that the receiving pattern (sensitivity as a function of direction) of an antenna when used forreceivingis identical to the far-field radiation pattern of the antenna when used fortransmitting. This is a consequence of thereciprocity theoremof electro-magnetics . Therefore, in discussions of radiation patterns the antenna can be viewed as either transmitting or receiving, whichever is more convenient.
When a changing electric field is applied to a conductor a magnetic field is produced. This magnetic field is perpendicular to the electric field. The magnetic field thus produced is itself in a flux. Its changing according to the direction of electric current. Physics tells us that a changing magnetic field produces an electric field. And so if we pause for a moment we see two things happening in an electromagnetic system like an antenna.
A changing electric field producing a changing magnetic field.
A changing magnetic field inducing a changing electric field.
Thus when these two conditions are satisfied we get what is known as an electromagnetic wave. Consisting of charged, magnetized, particles that feed off each other as they move away from the source at the speed of light. This phenomenon is knows as propagation. Once the wave starts to propagate it does not require any other energy from the source and it will continue to go on until its absorbed or dissipated. [1]
The direction of propagation is the “vector product” of directions of electric and magnetic fields. Since electric and magnetic fields are perpendicular to each other it follows that the direction of propagation will be perpendicular to both of them. [3]
Time for a diagram
In the figure above the electric field is applied on the “red” axis. Magnetic field is produced on the “blue” axis and the wave propagates on the “black” axis.
[ Consider an omni directional antenna [2] placed at the ground, towering up into the sky. If we apply changing electric field on the axis along the pole we’ll get a magnetic field on the axis along the ground. The electromagnetic waves would then propagate away into perpendicular free space axis. Neither along the ground. Nor along the pole. But at the angle that’s away from both of them. This kind of propagation is known as ground wave propagation. The wave is transmitted in the area between the surface of the earth and ionosphere [4]. ]
Polarization is an important concept in antenna theory. It that tells us about the direction and magnitude of electric field.
[Note while an EM wave has both electric and magnetic field in polarization we only consider electric field , probably because that is an easily available input from any socket on the wall :P]
Depending upon the direction and the magnitude of the electric field there are two types of polarization.
Linear
Circular
Elliptical
Linear refers to something that is arranged along a line. Since in polarization we’re talking about electric field, linear polarization is the arrangement of an electric field along a line.
A vertically polarized electric field along the axis E. As you can see the “red” current moves up and down the axis.
If the electric field is perpendicular to the ground then the polarization is referred to as vertical polarization.
If the electric field is horizontal to the ground the polarization is said to be horizontal polarization.
There may be cases when the electric field may be at an angle between these two extremes (90 for vertical and o for horizontal) even then the polarization will be linear. As long as the electric field can be arranged along a straight line the polarization is said to be linear.
The figure above illustrates a rotating circular field. The angle of electric field changes along the path of the circle.
Circular refers to something that is a part of a circle. Round. Like a clock. And so electric fields that go round form circular polarization. The magnitude of electric field in a circular polarization remains fixed but its direction changes along the circle.
If the electric field is moving clockwise along a circle it is called LHCP (or left hand circular polarized) if its moving anti-clockwise it is called RHCP (right hand circular polarized)
Elliptical polarization is like circular except the magnitude of the electric field is changing as well as the direction. Since the magnitude of electric field is different at different points a perfect circle is not formed rather we have an ellipse.
The consequence of polarization in antenna design is that the transmitter and receiver should have the same polarization. If the transmitter is linearly polarized so should the receiver. If the transmitter is circularly polarized so should the receiver be.
Why?
A polarization match increases the chances of receiving a high strength signal. Since polarization deals with the plane of electric field having a receiver in a different plane than a transmitter will reduce the quality of the signal. Circularly and elliptically polarized signals are two dimensional. So a linearly polarized receiver may pick up a signals from it.
When it comes to antenna theory the practical results are more important than the underlying concepts. In the real world signals have to face obstructions, reflections and interference form other signals so there’s really no way of telling what you’re going to get. Everyone wants a line of sight but its not easy to acquire especially in dense environments like cities. So even the best of designs, with accurate polarization and directivity and well understood radiation patterns our antenna infrastructure may not pass the real world test.
Just like in life, so too in antenna design and installation, there are no hard and fast rules. A circularly polarized antenna may indeed be the best way to provide connectivity to a linearly polarized antenna in some cases. Like the ones where signals are reflected and interfere with the source! Since circular antenna transmits in a 2d plane a receiver may be able to listen to the signal either horizontally or vertically. The theory exists only as a reference. To help us understand what we may be doing wrong and try again with a different approach.
Information Technology companies have a conflict of interest against their consumers. As an organization their goal is to maximize the profit. Being a technology company the best way to maximize profits is to build new products or variants targetting specific market segments. The concept of stability is thrown out of the window. Things are built for the sake of it.
Consumers on the other hand are more interested in how tech can solve problems for them. The software updates, new UI and “quality of life” improvements are all secondary. A tech that is good enough is sufficient for them.
But for the companies it’s not. They want more products to be sold. More liscence upgrades. More service contracts signed. While this does improve their projections it may be harming the ecosystem.
IT can’t build houses or roads. IT can’t generate power. IT can’t cook food or clean the streets. However the entire economic system today depends heavily on it simply beacuse it glues things together and makes processes more efficient.
Information technology is a support industry. It does not solve any problem on its own , rather it enables other people to do their work more efficiently. How can we expect someone to use technology if by the time they grasp how to use it, it’s changed completely?
Now one could understand if a professionals job is to work with IT he would know all the latest advancements in his field. But since IT is a support industry and does not do anything useful on it’s own but only enable others to do useful work why should a professional in the field of say construction care about operating system updates? It doesn’t matter to him. Nor should it.
Not only does this complexity waste time and effort but it also increases the digital divide by continuously making things obsolete and increasing the barrier to entry. While on the surface appearing more and more easy to use.
Technology should work at the ground level. The bare minimum that is needed to get the job done. Anything other than that is a distraction. Or worse a ploy to lock the user into the ecosystem.
Which is why a good technology company would focus more standardizing common use cases and strengthing backwards compatibility with what’s already working.
Building something new does not have to mean destroying the old. We need to be more sustainable in our approach.
However that is in direct conflict with the goals or technology companies. The responsibility of choosing a stable technology platform then lies on the consumer.
If we want to bridge the digital divide. If we want to create technology that can be accessible and used by all we need unifomity. Not just in design. Not just the cosmetic UI changes but in application. A standard OS. A standard kernel. A standard networking stack. A standard set of commonly used applications.
By making digital technology uniform we can multiply our digital literacy efforts. Rather than having to teach things again and again we only need to focus on few underlying principles. The rest people will learn themselves. To build smart systems we need to make smart choices.
Amplitude is an effort to create a uniform technology architecture that can be used across different industries with minimal disruption in workflow.
If the shape of an antenna is symmetrical, its radiation pattern will have the same symmetry
Directivity is a very important concept in antenna theory that deals with how much power can be radiated by an antenna in what direction. If we understand directivity we can better design systems that make use of antennas for transmission. If the situation calls for it we may even use different types of antennas to design our cellular network.
But to understand the directivity of antenna we need to know about it’s radiation patterns. That is how does an antenna radiate? What does it’s radiation look like in the real world?
So let’s get to it.
Based on radiation patterns an antenna can be classified into three types
1. Isotropic antennas
2. Omni directional Antennas
3. Directional antennas
Before we talk about the radiation pattern of the antennas it’s important to note that our classification deals with the degree of radiance.
What this means is that while all antennas radiate in all directions they do so inequally. And hence this classification is based on how much power is radiated in a direction as compared to others.
Further note that we will be taking about radiation in a 3D system. Like the real world our plane will have length, breadth and height represented by different axes.
Isotropic Antennas:- Isotropic Antennas radiate equally in all directions. It’s radiation pattern is a sphere of radius r. Where r is the maximum distance of radiation from from the point of origin that is the place where our antenna is located.
An Isotropic antenna does not exist in the real world . It’s conceptual and is used to compare the radiance of other antennas.
Why does it not exist?
Well that’s because we can’t control the radiation from an antenna. Once it starts to transmit the transmissions will keep going on and on untill all the power is lost via absoption or dissipation. Isotropic antenna suggests that it should radiate whithin the boundary of a perfect sphere which is not possible. But it serves as a good reference point.
Omnidirectional: An Omni antenna radiates in multiple directions but only in a 2d plane. So if for example the antenna rising at a height from the ground plane will radiate along the length and the breadth of the ground.
As is the case with any Omni antenna the radiation is greatest near the source and it falls off as the distance from the source increases.
Omni antenna is highly effective for point to multipoint conncetions. A case where there is one antenna broadcasting signal to multiple devices. Like wifi networks that we use in our home.
Directional Antenna: A directional antenna radiates more power in one direction. The waves are represented by an elongated front lobe in one direction and multiple smaller lobes in other directions. The lobe exactly opposite to the main/front/elongated/directional lobe is called ,wait for it, the back lobe!!! It’s the back lobe because it’s opposite to the front lobe!!! (well who could have thought?)
As expected the max distance and power is transmitted over the front lobe along the direction the antenna is supposed to transmit.
These types of antennas are focussed and are used for long distance point to point conncetions.
Useful in cases where one antenna has to transmit data to another antenna far away like in wireless backhaul or satellite communication in dish TV etc.
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