History of Wireless Communication

We trace the birth of wireless communication back to before the 17th century when drums or signaling torches were used to communicate over long distances.

In 1747, William Watson first transmitted electrical signals over a two-mile wire. Soon, the first recognized telecommunications system was pioneered by Claude Chappe in 1792. The semaphore system used mechanical arms and was named “telegraph” meaning “far writer.” In 1832, Joseph Henry and Samuel Morse demonstrated the use of electrical telegraphy to send messages over long distances and the series of signals used to indicate messages were named after Morse.

The invention of the telegraph happened side by side with the discovery of electromagnetic wave properties. Studies done by Heinrich Hertz became the grounds for inventions such as Bose’s wireless detection device and Tesla’s radio communications devices. In 1897, Guglielmo Marconi was awarded a patent for the wireless telegraph. In 1914, the first voice transmission took place over radio. Alexander Graham Bell’s photophone, which was patented in 1876 for transmitting voice over modulated light beams, led the way for future devices that were more practical. The first telephone call around the world took place in 1935 and by 1946, mobile users were interconnected to the public switched wireless network. The Federal Communications Commission recognized mobile radio as a new class of service in 1949 and allocated the 40 MHz band for wireless broadband. The Advanced Mobile Phone System was deployed in the United States in 1983 as its first cellular communication system. This first generation network was an analog system that allowed voice calls within a country.

The beginning of the modern sense of mobile communication was in the early 90s, when the US Digital Cellular phone system was introduced along with the first of “mobile phones.” In 1994, the GSM system was deployed in the US. The GSM system digitized voice signals and gave higher quality outputs. The technology was quickly adapted for public use and by 1997 the number of cellular telephone users in the US exceeded 50 million. The third generation network which most of the world is on now has a higher capacity for voice, data and Internet at higher speeds all around the globe. The number of cell phone users in the US in 2010 was well over 300 million. Fourth generation networks promise speeds of up to 100 Mbps and is being widely deployed by cellular providers with both WiMax and LTE standards. By 2015, the world is expected to have 371 million 4G users.