How does a Wireless Mouse work?

The mouse is an extremely popular technology to interact with your computer. While the majority of mice are connected directly to the computers peripheral input via a cord and are powered by the computers main power, wireless mice are becoming extremely popular to give computer users cordless accessibility to their mice and to interact with their computer.

Wireless Mouse Technology

Wireless mice usually work via radio frequencies commonly referred to as RF. RF wireless mice require two components to work properly a radio transmitter and a radio receiver.

RF Transmitter

A radio frequency (RF) transmitter is usually integrated inside the mouse. The mouse records its movements and buttons that are clicked and then sends this information via radio signals to the receiver.

RF Receiver

The radio frequency (RF) receiver usually connects to the computer's peripheral mouse input. It receives these RF signals, decodes them and then sends these signals directly to the computer as normal. RF receivers usually come in a few styles. The majority come as built in components that connect to the mouse input, others can be a separate card that is installed in one of the many expansion slots of computers and the third type of receiver is a separate unit that is then connected to a cable going directly to the computer's peripheral input. Since the technology has been mastered, most wireless mice have integrated receivers that plug into a computer's peripheral input and are very small in size.