What is Spread Spectrum radio?
Developed during World War II, spread spectrum radio ‘spreads’ rather than concentrates its signal over a wide frequency range within its assigned bands using frequency hopping and direct sequencing techniques. In specific applications like ‘hostile environment’ or ‘last mile’ situations where wires can’t go, spread specturm will play an increasing important role in a world destined to depend on wireless technology. Get a complete overview of ‘Spread Spectrum’ by viewing our Basics of Spread Spectrum document.
Spread spectrum radio is used commercially to enable wireless (i.e. without wires) data and voice communications within a limited area without a need for radio licences or cellular airtime charges. Originally developed for secure and resilient military communications, data transmissions are made within a “spread” of different frequencies. This approach has a number of benefits: from a technical point of view it means that there is very little chance of data not getting through or being corrupted; also, spread spectrum installations do not require any form of relicensing. A spread spectrum radio network is created by carefully positioning a number of radio transceivers (called access points). The access points are wired to the host networking system and create a radio data network similar to a cellular network, but on a much smaller, local scale. Portable computing devices can then communicate, via the access points, with their host network, transmitting and receiving data in “real time
