The world has become a global village because of the advancement in the two way radio communication systems. Anyone living in the remotest part of the world can share his knowledge or information within seconds with the rest of the world. The electronic media is growing in leaps and bounds and we cannot even imagine what a life our ancestors have been leading, without electricity, mobiles or the internet. All these gadgets and gizmos have become a part of our lives so much so that our kids feel it is a very important part of their communications. Any form of communication medium needs a receiver and a transmitter. But a transceiver can do the job of both the transmitter and the receiver.

What is actually the job of the transceiver? How can it be useful with the two way radio communication systems? A transceiver combines into a common circuitry both the receiver and the transmitter, and this term came into process from the 1920’s. When the transceivers don’t have a common circuitry it is called transmitter-receiver. But technically speaking every transceiver must have part of both the receiver and transmitter. There are other similar devices like transverters, repeaters and transponders. One best example of a transceiver is the mobile phone wherein the whole unit contains the transceiver, whereas the normal telephone has wired receiver and transmitter in its handset.

A modem and cordless telephones are also best examples of the transceivers. Cable or optical fiber systems also use these devices. In a radio the transceivers role is imperative. The receiver goes into silent mode while transmitting. The switch of the radio connects both the receiver and transmitter to the antenna which in turn stops the transmitter from damaging the receiver. In this so called half duplex mode receiving signals is not possible while transmitting as both the functions are done in the same frequency.

In the full duplex mode the transceivers can transmit and receive signals at the same time, as they operate on totally two different frequencies. In this case both the signals do not intercept one another. This full duplex mode is what is used in cellular and cordless phones. Almost all satellite dependant communication systems use the full duplex mode of transceivers. In this case the transmitted signal to the satellite is otherwise known as uplink and the received signal from the satellite is called the downlink. Many different types of transceivers are being invented tested and used from time to time.

The cost of the transceivers depends upon its usage and capability to handle the amount of work transmitted and received. Whatever the price the role of transceivers in two way radio communication systems is imperative. Today most of the people cannot live without their mobiles and they find it hard to use fixed landline telephones. The telephone operators introduce cordless, wireless phones for customer friendly feature and this is best made use of by the customers. In today’s fast world transceivers enabled devices are user friendly, powerful and performance driven. Newer technologies will enhance the user experience more and more in future.