John Wiley And Sons Wireless Networks eBook LiB - Preface

Preface
The field of wireless networks has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years and it has
become one of the fastest growing segments of the telecommunications industry. Wireless
communication systems, such as cellular, cordless and satellite phones as well as wireless
local area networks (WLANs) have found widespread use and have become an essential tool
to many people in every-day life. The popularity of wireless networks is so great that we will
soon reach the point where the number of worldwide wireless subscribers will be higher than
the number of wireline subscribers. This popularity of wireless communication systems is due
to its advantages compared to wireline systems. The most important of these advantages is the
freedom from cables, which enables the 3A paradigm: communication anywhere, anytime,
with anyone. For example, by dialing a friend or colleague’s mobile phone number, one is
able to contact him in a variety of geographical locations, thus overcoming the disability of
fixed telephony.
This book aims to provide in-depth coverage of the wireless technological alternatives
offered today. In Chapter 1, a short introduction to wireless networks is made.
In Chapter 2, background knowledge regarding wireless communications is provided.
Issues such as electromagnetic wave propagation, modulation, multiple access for wireless
systems, etc. are discussed Readers who are already familiar with these issues may skip this
chapter.
In Chapter 3, the first generation of cellular systems is discussed. Such systems are still
used nowadays, nevertheless they are far from being at the edge of technology. Chapter 3
discusses two representative first generation systems, the Advanced Mobile Phone System
(AMPS) and the Nordic Mobile Telephony (NMT) system.
In Chapter 4, the second generation of cellular systems is discussed. The era of mobile
telephony as we understand it today, is dominated by second generation cellular standards.
Chapter 4 discusses several such systems, such as D-AMPS, cdmaOne and the Global system
for Mobile Communications (GSM). Moreover, data transmission over 2G systems is
discussed by covering the so-called 2.5G systems, such as the General Packet Radio Service
(GPRS), cdmaTwo, etc. Finally, Chapter 4 discusses Cordless Telephony (CT) including the
the Digital European Cordless Telecommunications Standard (DECT) and the Personal
Handyphone System (PHS) standards.

Chapter 5 discusses the third generation of cellular systems. These are the successors of
second generation systems. They are currently starting to be deployed and promise data rates
up to 2 Mbps. The three different third generation air-interface standards (Enhanced Data
Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), cdma2000 and wideband CDMA (WCDMA)) are
discussed.
Chapter 6 provides a vision of 4G and beyond mobile and wireless systems. Such systems
target the market of 2010 and beyond, aiming to offer data rates of at least 50 Mbps. Due to
the large time window to their deployment, both the telecommunications scene and the
services offered by 4G systems and beyond are not yet known and as a result aims for
these systems may be changing over time.
Chapter 7 discusses satellite-based wireless systems. After discussing the characteristics of
the various satellite orbits, Chapter 7 covers the VSAT, Iridium and Globalstar systems and
discusses a number of issues relating to satellite-based Internet access.
Chapter 8 discusses fixed wireless systems. The main points of this chapter are the well-
known Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) and Local Multipoint Distri-
bution Service (LMDS).
Chapter 9 covers wireless local area networks. It discusses the design goals for wireless
local area networks, the different options for using a physical layer and the MAC protocols of
two wireless local area network standards, IEEE 802.11 and ETSI HIPERLAN 1. Further-
more, it discusses the latest developments in the field of wireless local area networks.
Chapter 10 is devoted to Wireless Asynchronous Transfer Mode (WATM). After providing
a brief introduction to ATM, it discusses WATM and HIPELRAN 2, an ATM-compatible
wireless local area network. The chapter also provides a section on wireless ad-hoc routing
protocols.
Chapter 11 describes Personal Area Networks (PANs). The concept of a PAN differs from
that of other types of data networks in terms of size, performance and cost. PANs target
applications that demand short-range communications. After a brief introduction, Chapter 11
covers the Bluetooth and HomeRF PAN standards.
Chapter 12 discusses security issues in wireless networks. Security is a crucial point in all
kinds of networks but is even more crucial in wireless networks due to the fact that wireless

transmission cannot generally be confined to a certain geographical area.
Chapter 13 deals with the basics of simulation modeling and its application to wireless
networking. It discusses the basic issues involved in the development of a simulator and
presents several simulation studies of wireless network systems.
Finally, Chapter 14 discusses several economical issues relating to wireless networks. It is
reported that although voice telephony will continue to be a significant application, the
wireless-Internet combination will shift the nature of wireless systems from today’s voice-
oriented wireless systems towards data-centric ones. The impacts of this change on the key
players in the wireless networking world are discussed. Furthermore, the chapter covers
charging issues in the wireless networks.
We would like to thank the reviewers of the original book proposal for their constructive
suggestions. Also, we would like to thank our students for some feedback that we received
while trying the manuscript in class. Many thanks to Wiley’s editors and editorial assistants
for their outstanding work.
Wireless Networksxvi