Articles
Broadcasting to Mobiles (Revolutionary Developments in Radio Broadcasting)
Dt: 3/12/19
Broadcasting to Mobiles
(Revolutionary Developments in Radio Broadcasting)
Dr T.H.Chowdary*
Guglielmo Marconi of Italy is credited with the invention (1897) of wireless (Radio ) communication . Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose had also demonstrated wireless communication but keeping to the Indian tradition that knowledge must be shared freely and not patented and sold, his discovery goes un-credited . In the last more than a century wireless communication has come to be used for telegraphy, telephony broadcasting and many types of communicating information. The radio spectrum ( the frequencies in which information is wirelessly transmitted ) is created by man. Energy comes to earth in the form of radio noise at very high frequencies from stellar sources. But the radio spectrum that is used for communicating information (telegraphy, telephony, broadcasting , television, teledata…) is created by men, their companies. The spectrum can be used again and again; that is, unlike oil and coal and metallic ores spectrum is an inexhaustible resource; can be regenerated again and again. Spectrum, is sliced into different bands . The radio signals generated and transmitted in a particular frequency band become weaker and weaker over distance. When it is so little in strength, it can be re-used again . So that the same spectrum band is not used by more than one company at the same place and at the same time, there must be regulation as to which user can use what spectrum band for what purpose over a defined area. Obviously regulation has to be done by a government agency. Unfortunately, governments think that the radio spectrum, even though created by non-government entities, belongs to them and sell it by auction, treating it as a source of revenue.
2. One of the most beneficial uses of radio spectrum is for broadcasting ( first such broadcasts were from BBC in the UK in 1922) information that is educative, inspirational and entertaining. Radio broadcasting companies whether of government or licenced private companies use the spectrum for conveying their produce. Broadcasts carry information from one source to many who have a device which is capable of receiving the frequency band (s) in which the program is broadcast. We are familiar with the radio transmitters and radio stations of the Government of India . All India Radio broadcasts sound and Door Darshan sound and picture as in television. To receive these radio broadcasts radio receivers and TV receivers are necessary. In the beginning, they used to be large in volume and weight and consumed much power. These radio receivers and TV sets were “stationary”; that is, they were put in a particular place in the house or office. They required outdoor antennas to receive the radio signals.
3. Scientific researches and industrial innovations have opened up more and more radio frequency spectra ( frequency bands) using which reception could be by moving objects and persons. Broadcasts could be received by mobile devices which can be carried by persons . In the beginning, they were heavy and voluminous. But technology has been making them ever smaller that they can be held in the palm of a person. They are powered by inbuilt small batteries which can be recharged. This is mobile broadcasting. The famous “walkman” of Japanese make, made mobile reception popular.
4. Mobile broadcasting was preceded by mobile telephony. In popular parlance, they are called cell phones .We had telephony only through wires in cables placed underground or wires placed on telephone poles. But in cellular mobile telephony the hand -held devices popularly called cell phones are capable of transmitting and receiving telephone conversations. Later developments have made the hand -held devices so multi-purpose that they can receive picture, sound, data and whatever is broadcast into space or accessible from electronic store-houses of information called websites. Mobile telephony and other forms of communications depend largely upon terrestrial infrastructure; of cell phone towers and radio equipment on top and base of them, being connected to computer -controlled exchanges through terrestrial microwave radio links or underground optical fiber cables. Visionaries worked for facilitating anytime, anywhere on the globe, communications. The use of communications satellites was initiated for this purpose. The American company, Motorola launched a project costing $1.5 bln, placing 64 communication satellites in near -earth orbits in space . The project was called IRIDIUM . The mobile phone that a moving person or vehicle used was quite bulky and consumed lot of power .The operations became uneconomic and Iridium project was shut down.
5. Now Elon Musk, founder and Chief Executive Office of the pioneering space exploration and travel company SpaceX, visionary entrepreneur is envisaging to put upto 60,000 small satellites in near earth orbits and through them, provide communication to hand -held devices, not exactly cell phones all over the globe. We are now moving to a 5th generation system in which handheld devices (smart telephones) with tremendous amount of software can connect with the internet, receive broadcasts of video and graphics at great speed. Tthe transmitted vision, text, data, voice are all combined together and can be seen and heard and inter-communicated through the hand -held device, which excels any palm-held or table -top computer. TV broadcast can also be seen while we are on the move. Cars are being fitted with such multi -function reception devices. And hand held “telephones” are becoming smarter and smarter so that whatever is there, in which ever part of the earth’s surface and whatever is happening anywhere in the world can be seen while on the move. So direct TV broadcasting with reception by hand -held devices is imminent possibility.
6. Dishes mounted on rooftops will give place to hand -held smart devices. ( computers ) and therefore broadcasting direct to (hand –held) smart mobile devices will become ubiquitous . Developments like driverless cars needing just keying the place of starting and destination are coming. The screen will show the streets to be followed in obedience to traffic signals.
7. We will not see the end of progress. The developments remind us of triloka sanchari , Narada and the divys drishti that Sanjay was having to see the battles in Kurukshetra from far and narrate them to the blind king Dritarashtra. The criticism of “ rationalists” and “progressives” that the Puranic lore which talks of movement between different worlds and communications between them is illogical. Marvels like landing on the moon and equipments being planted on Mars and laboratories in space vehicles moving from star to star in our galaxy and the information that they are transmitting wirelessly to earthlings should dispel our so - called scientific thinking that what cannot be logically explained or seen is just imagination and fable. Globe-covering broadcasts through satellites and their reception through hand-held smart devices will be very much with us soon.(1,118 words)
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