Lauren Muma

October 8, 2017
Period 1

Annotate Source List

"AM vs. FM." diffen.com, www.diffen.com/difference/AM_vs_FM. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

This article compares amplitude modulation and frequency modulation, commonly

known as AM and FM. Amplitude modulation and frequency modulation transmit information
through electromagnetic waves. During amplitude modulation, the amplitude of the signal or
carrier varies and the frequency remains the same whereas during frequency modulation, the
frequency varies and the amplitude remains the same. There are both pros and cons to each AM
and FM. AM has poor sound quality however, it is cheaper, travels long distances, and has a
lower bandwidth. AM stations can also be affected by electrical storms which is a problem that
FM does not face. The lower bandwidth allows for more stations on an AM radio channel. FM is
impacted by physical barriers such as large buildings, but has less interference and has better
sound because of its greater bandwidth. Both frequency and amplitude modulation have
different bandwidth requirements, for AM the bandwidth has to be twice the highest modulating
frequency and for FM the bandwidth has to be twice the sum of the modulating signal frequency.
People typically listen to FM radio more than AM radio because of the added noise on AM.
Amplitude modulation has the added static because noise affects amplitude and the amplitude is
where the information is kept for AM radio. There is not that added noise for frequency
modulation radio because that depends of the frequency and not the amplitude of the waves.
There are a lot more AM radio stations then FM because there can be AM stations every 10 kHz
but there can only be an FM station every 200 kHz. AM has a wider coverage and can have
stations over long distances but FM is more local and can’t span the same long distances that
AM is able to. Both amplitude modulation and frequency modulation have their own pros and
cons but FM is better for communication and radio because there is less noise interference.
This was the first article that I read once I refocused my research. Before, I was learning
about digital signal processing and my mentor and I talked and realized that I didn’t really know
why I was learning about that. We both decided that I should research amplitude modulation and
frequency modulation so that I have a better understanding of them and how they act. This
article was extremely helpful because I never knew anything about AM or FM and everything
was explain clearly and factually. I always knew that there were two types of radio stations, AM
or FM but I never knew what the difference between them was. From this article I have learned
that it is called amplitude modulation because the amplitude of the signal is changing and it is
frequency modulation because the frequency of the signal is changing. This article also went
into depth about all of the pros and cons of AM and FM which helped me understand them
better. After I read this article, my mentor showed me a radio on his computer that allowed me
to see graphs from AM and FM radio stations. These graphs allowed me to see how the
amplitude or frequency was changing based on the stations that I was listening too. If my mentor
had showed me the radio before I had read this article I would have been very confused and not
sure how everything was working. This background knowledge allowed me to understand why
the AM stations were so different from the FM stations and why each station behaved the way
that it did. For my project I will be using GNU Radio, a computer program on Linux, and it is
very important for me to understand radios. I will have to understand how AM and FM radio
waves act because it is my job to analyze the waves. Now when I am using GNU Radio I
understand why there are more AM channels than FM because AM channels occur every 10kHz
versus FM which occurs every 200kHz. This article was very helpful and I will always refer
back to it when I am working on my project.

Burbank, Jack L., et al. Wireless Networking Understanding Internetworking Challenges.

Piscataway, IEEE Press, 2013.

This first chapter of this book is about the different parts and history of the wireless
internet. It is broken down into sections that discuss in detail wireless networking and
communication. Two sections in chapter one is; Data Networks Versus Cellular Networks, and
The Wireless Internet: Different Models. Wireless computer networking standards are standards
for devices that are typically immobile, such as desktop computers, and they control
communication and internet access. Cellular networking standards differ because they are the
standards for mobile communication devices. In the other section it explains that there are three
different models of wireless networking standards; wireless personal area networks (WPANs),
wireless local area networks (WLANs), and wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs).
Each of these models covers a different range of operation measured in meters. WPANs cover
tens of meters, WLANs cover hundreds of meters to kilometers, and WMANs cover hundreds of
kilometers. The ranges for these models vary based on the environment and device that is being
used.
I really liked this book because it went into a lot of details about the different parts of
wireless networking in the first chapter. Reading this was my first time learning about wireless
networking and I had to read some of the sections over a few times to make sure I understood
and comprehended what I was reading. The pictures that were added into the sections were very
helpful because they helped me visualize what the author was writing about. I think this is a
reliable source because it was written by electrical engineers, one who works at APL, and it was
published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Some of the information in
this book is outdated because technology is constantly evolving and this book was written four
years ago, but the basic fundamentals of the concepts are still the same.

Cook, Jarriel D. Interview. 2 Oct. 2017.

Jarriel D. Cook, my mentor, is an electrical engineer who has worked at the John’s
Hopkins Applied Physics Lab for the past four years. Cook graduated from the University of
Maryland with an electrical engineering degree and then he went to Johns Hopkins University
for his masters. After graduation he worked with a small company for four and a half years and
then he worked for a contractor for the Navel Research Lab for 14 years. At APL he is the
acting assistant group supervisor which means he ensures that his staff has the tools to
successfully complete the given tasks correctly. He also does his best to make sure the right
people are working on projects that will show their strong suits. When I asked Cook what he
was most proud of at his job, he said that it was seeing his staff members tackle a task and
perform really well when he had little involvement. Cook’s favorite project that he ever worked
on was called “Why Not” which stands for Wireless Internet of Things. Cook created an internet
tool that other groups in his office have used to complete their projects.

Demestichas, Panagiotis, et al. "5G on the Horizon Key Challenges for the Radio-Access
Network." IEEE Xplore, 25 July 2013, ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6568922/. Accessed
8 Oct. 2017.

This article discusses the past generations of wireless/mobile broadband and how the fifth
generation is coming soon and all of the directions that it could possible go in. The wireless
network operators are trying to find a solution for the traffic demand that continues to increase
by using mostly small cells instead of only using macro-base stations. However, there are many
aspects that must be taken into consideration when thinking of how to create a new wireless
broadband. The creators must think about society, the environment, the economy, the users, and
the operators. The first direction to creating 5G is evolution, and this hopes to improve the
service provision and decrease cost. The second direction is the constant decrease in the sizes of
the cells that are being deployed, which will improve the capacity and cost of resources. The
third direction was actually developed ten years ago and is the joint operation and exploitation of
heterogeneous wireless access infrastructures. To expand upon the third direction is the fourth
which is heterogeneous networks which will hopefully increase cost efficiency. The fifth
direction is flexible spectrum management which will hopefully improve resource utilization.
This article also goes on to talk about directions that will be taken after 5G is created.
I thought this was a good article because it was easy to understand and it went into
specific detail to explain how 5G would be made to be an improvement from the previous
generations. This article is speculation because it talks about all of the possible directions that 5G
could go in and when it actually is created it mostly likely won’t be going in five different
directions. I liked how with each possible direction that the writers explained the direction and
how it would meet the requirements. With the several different authors I feel confident that what
is written in the article is valid and has been fact checked. I also like how the reference page is
included at the end of the article because that is where I have found other articles. This article
was written in 2013, so I know that what I read was written in the past and now what is currently
going on with 5G.

Gacanin, Haris, and Amir Ligata. "Wi-Fi Self-Organizing Networks: Challenges and Use Cases."
IEEE, July 2017, ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7981544/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.

Wi-Fi is something that people know they have, but not necessarily how they have it.
This article discusses how the next generation of Wi-Fi will be improved by the use of self-
optimizing networks and radio frequency segments. Throughout the article the challenges of Wi-
Fi self-optimizing networks (Wi-SONS) that have not yet been discussed, are examined. Self-
organizing networks can be defined as “a set of principles that and concepts to add automation to
mobile networks requiring less maintenance than traditional networks while improving quality of
service.” One solution network operators are looking at is to enhance the quality of service (QoS)
of the Wi-Fi networks by making their existing private networks denser by adding in community
networks. A challenge that Wi-SON is facing is competing services and network operators that
are not controlled. To try and fix this problem, Wi-Fi network operators are looking at the
dynamic optimization of network configuration parameters and how they react to the radio and
network key performance indicators (KPIs). There are also function related design challenges
for Wi-SON functions and they are self-configuration, self-optimization and self-healing and
there are three main architectures for those which include distribution, centralized, and hybrid.
These challenges are caused when the network QoS is reviewed by many independent service
operators who do not communicate with each other. There are management protocols that are set
in place that will help solve the challenges network operators face. The protocols include Simple
Network Management Protocol, The Network Configuration Protocol, and Broadbands Forum’s
TR-069 CPE WAN management protocol.
This article was not directly related to my topic however, my mentor wanted me to read it
so that I could have a background on self-optimizing networks. By reading this I learned about
Wi-Fi self-optimizing networks which is the principles that allows networks to work together.
This is relative to my project because I am collecting data on how base stations interact with
each other and how the signals transfer to one or the other. If one of the base stations was taken
away, the self-organizing network protocols would come into play and allow the base stations to
compensate for the one that is missing. I liked this article because it allowed me to better
understand my project and what is behind the physical base stations.

Hurley, Stephen. "Planning Effective Cellular Mobile Radio Networks." IEEE, 7 Aug. 2002,
ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/994802/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.

This article discusses how base station sites are selected to form a cellular mobile radio
network. When choosing a site for the networks, there are requirements such as the site must
have a high area coverage and high traffic capacity but it must also be low cost. This means that
the network must be able to reach a large amount of people as well as have a large amount of
people using the network. If the network is not designed efficiently than the network would not
meet the requirements and the site would be wasted. In order to make the network perfect it must
meet qualifications under six categories. These categories include; network, service and traffic, a
site, a base station, antennas, and mobile. The article also includes the design objectives for the
networks which are, coverage, traffic capacity, site cost, handover, and interference. All of these
objectives are in place to make sure that the network is working as efficiently as possible with
the least amount of cost.
This article allowed me to learn how about the process of planning where to set up
networks. There are a lot of considerations that go into planning the site and all of them must be
carefully thought through. I liked reading this article because I will also have to plan where to
put my base stations. I may not need to go through the whole process that is needed to plan
where to put real base stations, but now I understand what goes into the process. For my project
I have to place three base stations in a lab that will be able to send signals to each other. From
this article, I learned that you have to pick spots that will maximize the traffic capacity as well as
the area coverage.

IEEE. www.ieee.org/index.html. Accessed 23 Oct. 2017.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a technical organization that

works to benefit humanity by the use of technology. The website provides information about the
organization as well as articles relating to science and technology. There are many papers on this
website that are very specific towards electrical engineering and all of the new innovations that
are happening in technology. This organization allows you to interact with other electrical
engineers and share the information that you have researched. There are several conferences that
have been held/will be held such as the “2036 IEEE/MTT-S Microwave Symposium IMS 2036,”
where engineers will be able to discuss and share their research with others. The IEEE has a set
of standards that electrical engineers must follow when they are completing a project. These
standards help regulate the new technologies that are being developed.
I really like this website because it has allowed me to find a lot of information on my
topic of cellular networking. Cellular networking is a very specific topic and IEEE has provided
me with very advanced, in-depth articles. The IEEE has professional articles that have been
written by several accredited authors, so I know the information I am reading is true. There are a
variety of articles offered on the website including theories and professional studies. This
website also provides a community for electrical engineers. Having a community is important
because it allows you to share your views and knowledge with like-minded people who are in the
same career field.

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. www.jhuapl.edu/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2017.

This website allows the viewer to learn everything there is, that isn’t confidential, about
APL. On the homepage you have immediate access to top stories that are related to scientific
studies. Underneath that, there is a list of all of APL’s missions such as, air and missile defense,
homeland protection, and special operations. In addition to the homepage, the viewer has access
to other pages such as “About,” “Mission Areas,” “Careers,” “News and Publication,” and
“Education.” The “About” page provides details about the history of The Applied Physics Lab,
the people that work there, and what goals they are currently trying to achieve. Under “Mission
Areas” it lists all 12 of APL’s missions and allows you to click on each link and view more
information about it. “Careers” is a page that describes the goal of APL, what they are looking
for in an employee, and what different jobs are available there. In “News and Publication” there
are press releases, published articles, and featured stories that are all related to the missions at
APL. The last page, “Education,” provides information about the different opportunities that
APL has for students such as internships and outreach programs.
I enjoy going on this website because it provides me with information I never would have
known I needed. It gives me in-depth information on a various number of topics and then I can
read about how that information is applicable in the published articles. This website gave me all
of the information I needed to apply for the ASPIRE internship program such as the dates and
what was needed for the application. I also occasionally use this website when I am at my
internship to research my topic of cellular networking. I like the search bar at the top of the
website which allows me to search cellular networking, or any topic, and it gives me the results
of all of the papers or pages at APL that mention cellular networking. I haven’t used any articles
from this website because none are specific enough to my topic but it does give me good
background knowledge.
Paul, Utpal Kumar. "Traffic Driven Analysis of Cellular and WiFi Networks." ERIC,
eric.ed.gov/?q=base+stations&id=ED552037. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.

Utpal Kumar Paul wrote his dissertation college paper on the traffic driven analysis of
cellular and Wi-Fi networks. To understand how large networks work it is important to measure,
monitor, and analyze the network traffic. Paul chose to focus his study on cellular data networks
and Wi-Fi LANs (local area networks) so he could improve the understanding of traffic
dynamics, find a way for cost efficient monitoring, and understand the interference properties to
find misbehaviors of Wi-Fi networks. To do so, he collected a large amount of data from a
nationwide 3G cellular data network so he could measure the network resource usage and the
user’s behavior. He also studied how efficiently subscribers use radio resources. The data from
this study allowed him to see that there is a significant spatial correlation in radio resource usage
in the base stations. Paul’s solution to this problem was to propose a new traffic management
technique for the cellular data networks which will help if there are too many people using data
on one network.
I enjoyed reading this paper because it was written in a language that I could understand.
It still used advanced terminology however it was written clearly and Paul gave a step by step
description of what he did with his study. This article did not provide me with information that I
could use for my project but it did show me how someone could use my topic and take it in
another direction. Paul created a study with which we would analyze the data of radio usage on
base stations. This really interested me because it allowed me to see how cellular and wifi
networks can be used and studied in real life scenarios. The problem, focus, goal, and solution
were all clearly stated and I believe that is what makes for an excellent study. Because this is a
dissertation, the facts in this paper may or may not be true. This is not a professional article so,
if I wanted information on my topic I would go elsewhere, but it was helpful to learn about
someone else’s project that is going to be similar to mine.
Stonebank, M. "UNIX Tutorial for Beginners." ee.survey.ac.uk, 19 Oct. 2001,
www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2017.

This is a tutorial for the UNIX and Linux operating systems. This operating system is the
suite of programs that allow a computer to work, basically what a computer would look like
without the homepage, just a blank space for coding. This tutorial teaches you step by step how
to use Linux and the different commands that can be written in the program. There are eight
tutorials on this website, each tutorial more advanced than the one prior to it. The tutorial starts
off by introducing the basic commands such as “ls”, when this is typed into the program, the
directory that is currently being worked on will appear on the screen. This is a useful command
when you have been working on the code for a while and you want to see all of the contents
which you have programed. “mkdir” is a command that allows the program to make a directory
that will hold all of your files. This is a key command because it allows you to organize and
store your files in a place you have easy access to. When you’re coding you may originally
place a file in one folder but along the line you may want to move it to a more fitting file. With
the move command “mv” you can move a file from one folder to another. Linus also allows you
to download software onto the program which is what was taught in tutorial seven. The software
that it wants you to download is one that will convert different units of measurements. To do this
you have to follow the set of instructions using commands that have been taught in previous
tutorials. This is a useful software because it is an easy way to convert units whereas by hand the
process would be very tedious.
I am a huge fan of this tutorial because it has taught me how to use an operating system
that I will use every day at my internship. I had this tutorial on one screen and the Linux
operating system on another screen so I could follow the tutorial step by step. The tutorial was
easy to follow and all of the commands were thoroughly explained. With each step in the
tutorial it would explain what to write in Linux for the code and then what the command would
do. Some commands had several steps to them, so I had to understand the first command before I
could move onto the more advanced commands. One advanced command I found difficult was
adding the converting software onto my program. This involved many steps including
downloading the software and creating a new file on Linux. Although this was difficult it was
really cool to see how it would work. The software preformed what I would find a tedious task,
without any difficulty. I really enjoyed going through this tutorial because it allowed me to type
commands and then new information would pop up and I would get to see what each command
did. At my internship, I am using Linux to communicate with the computer on the base station
that I am using for my project. I am fascinated with the fact that I can program a computer that
has no monitor by using Linux to virtually code it.

Strickland, Jonathan. "What's Ubuntu, and how is it different from Linux?"

computer.howstuffworks.com, 17 Oct. 2011, computer.howstuffworks.com/ubuntu.htm.
Accessed 7 Dec. 2017.

This article discusses what Ubuntu is and how it differs from Linux. Linux is an open
source operating system which means it is a software on the computer that is the basis for
computer programs. An operating system is in control of the computer’s resources and allows
the computer to run its programs. Examples of commonly known operating systems are
Windows and MAC. These operating systems are compiled, which means the coding is easy for
a computer to understand but not a human. Because of the complexity of the code, a user would
not be able to make changes to the code themselves if they see a problem they want to change
with it. An open-source operating system is written in source code, a code that humans with
programming knowledge can understand. Unlike complied code, a computer or other piece of
machinery is unable to understand source code. Linux allows the user to see the source code
which allows the user to make any changes if they understand the programming language. Users
typically make changes to the code if they see a bug or problem with it. Knowing how to
program is not only beneficial in order to fix a problem with the code but also with adding your
own personal features to Linux. The Linux Kernel is the base of the operating system and the
user can code their own operating system on top of that. Ubuntu is one of those operating
systems. Ubuntu is what is called a distribution of Linux. This means it is “a version of the
operating system that had the Linux Kernel as its foundation.” Ubuntu is not the only Linux
distribution, as there are hundreds of others. Ubuntu is a commercial project derived from the
Linux Kernel. It’s free to use and download because it makes its money from commercial
support. Ubuntu can be downloaded on top of your computers own operating system without
overriding it. Ubuntu allows you to work with your computers own operating system or you can
erase the original operating system and just use Ubuntu instead of Windows or MAC.
For my project I will be using the operating system Ubuntu, as well as Linux. I was
never sure exactly what these two things were but I knew they were computer programs. I had
worked with Linux before by going through a tutorial on how to use it and knew that it was an
operating system that you can code directly on. I was also instructed to download Ubuntu onto a
flash drive so I could download it to the computer on the base station that I would be using for
my project. In order to inform myself about the software I would be using for my project I read
this article. I knew that I would be confused if I was working on a software without completely
understanding what it did, so I took initiative and looked up this article. From this article I
learned that Ubuntu was comparable to Windows and MAC in terms of how it worked and was
used. After I read this, I opened up Ubuntu on my computer and I played around with it to see
how it worked. I was surprised to see how similar it was to MAC because of the applications
that were on the home page. I was going through the other applications that could possibly be
downloaded and they all were very similar to Linux. The difference from Linux and other
operating systems is that for Linux you have to type in code instead of a URL to get to where
you want to go. This article allowed me to understand the software and how to use it.

“Wireless Communications.” The Gale Encyclopedia of Science, edited by K. Lee Lerner and
Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, 4th ed., vol. 6, Gale, 2008, pp.4709-4710. Gale Virtual
Reference Library,

“Wireless Communications” discusses how cell phones and computers work to

communicate by using radio and electromagnetic waves. A cell phone can send and receive
calls through various antenna towers that are near them. If the phone is out of reach of a tower,
then it will transfer the call through different cell towers and this process is called handover. If
there are no towers that the call can connect to then the call will be dropped immediately because
there is no way for it to be sent. Cell phones can communicate with each other by using different
frequencies on their phones, one for sending and one receiving. Along with cell phones,
computers are also using wireless communication. Computers are able to have access to the
internet through a digital subscriber loop (DSL), which is a wired technology. Wireless local
area network (WLAN) allows computer to have access to the internet in their immediate area.
An access point, “a device connected to the internet through a broadband connection,” transmits
signals on 2.4 GHz frequencies, that is able to give computers internet access.
When I am programming my computer on my base station I never fully understood how I
was able to connect to the internet. This article explained to me how cell phones and computers
are able to connect in order to receive internet access. I really liked this article because it
explained how wireless networks have access to the internet as well as how they communicate.
This article is very applicable to my project because it allows me to understand how the base
stations are communicating with each other. It’s one thing to see that a computer is connected to
the internet and it’s another thing to understand how it is connected. By learning that computers
are able to have access to the internet through access points allows me to make sense of the fact
that WLANs are essential to smaller areas. The fact that messages are sent and received on
different frequencies is another interesting fact to know. Knowing that the messages are sent on
different frequencies, I can understand how my base station is able to connect with my mobile
computer. I really liked reading this article because it explained the basic information that was
crucial to understanding how wireless communication works.