ABSTRACT
It is a given that the readers of this book will have a diverse background with respect to communications concepts. Thus, to make the contents of this book as meaningful as possible to a diverse readership, this chapter will review a series of communications fundamentals. Those fundamental communications concepts we will cover include bandwidth, frequency, and noise that affect both wired and wireless communications. Once this is accomplished, we will examine the allocation of the radio frequency spectrum, noting how the frequency spectrum is allocated in the United States, the nomenclature used to categorize different segments or bands of frequency, and 18 common and evolving wireless applications, to include where in the frequency spectrum inter-vehicle communications is expected to occur. Once this is accomplished we will then examine radar operations that can be used to denote the distance to objects, as their use can provide the ability of one vehicle to note the distance of other vehicles and potential road obstructions. Because most vehicle manufacturers are examining the use of wireless local area network (LAN) technology as a mechanism for vehicles becoming participants in an ad hoc network, we will conclude this chapter with a preliminary overview of wireless LAN standards, which will be expanded upon in the next chapter.
