Elements of Radio Waves

TL;DR

This paper reviews fundamental electromagnetic principles of radio waves, focusing on generation, propagation, and reception, especially in the gigahertz range relevant for wireless sensor networks, supported by measurement results using RSSI indicators.

Contribution

It provides a concise overview of radio wave fundamentals with practical measurement insights for wireless sensor network applications.

Findings

Field strength varies with position and distance as shown by RSSI measurements.

Highlights the importance of gigahertz bandwidth in wireless sensor networks.

Offers a quick review useful for beginners and practitioners.

Abstract

We present a summary of the basic properties of the radio wave generation, propagation and reception, with a special attention to the gigahertz bandwidth region which is of interest for wireless sensor networks. We also present some measurement results which use the so-called RSSI indicator in order to track how the field strength varies with position and distance of the transceivers. We hope the paper may be useful to anyone who looks for a quick review of the fundamentals of electromagnetic theory with application to antennas.