Abstract
Currently over 50% of the world’s population check their e-mails everyday. Collecting information from the Internet is a routine. In the early 21st century, wireless communication has become a hot topic in IT (Information Technology) and CT (Communication Technology), as evidenced by the growth of wireless technologies such as 3G, Wi-Fi and WiMax. 3G is a cellular technology developed in conjunction with the cellular phone network. Wi-Fi is a wireless local area network technology. WiMax is designed for the wireless metropolitan area network. Today, people not only want the fixed wireless access to the Internet, but also want the mobile wireless access as well. They want a ubiquitous connection, even when in a train, a cab, or the subway. This demand is resulting in increasing competition between the leading wireless technologies. 3G, Wi-Fi and WiMax all appear to have the potential to feed the demand, but still have issues that need to be addressed. The future direction of wireless Internet access is uncertain, including whether these three technologies will operate cooperatively or competitively. This thesis is going to predict the future direction by analysis of 3G, Wi-Fi and WiMax technologies and the evaluation of three wireless access case studies.
This thesis will begin with an introduction to the history of Internet and will then continue with a discussion of the technical aspects of 3G, Wi-Fi and WiMax. After the technology introduction, this thesis will evaluate three current implementations of wireless Internet access as case studies to verify the capabilities of Wi-Fi and WiMax, and to discuss the feasibility of building a city-wide wireless network. Finally, a reasonable prediction of the future implementation of a city-wide wireless Internet structure will be presented.
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