William Stallings
WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, 2002
Hardcover, pp. 584, plus XII, $ 69.50
ISBN 0-13-040864-6
http://www.pearsoneduc.com

In general about the book

Wireless networks (WNs) constitute one of the most dynamically developing fields of telecommunications, nowadays. As complex systems these networks are composed of many building blocks whose operation depends on numerous factors. Contrary to traditional communication paradigm that deals with fixed networks, WNs raise a new set of questions, techniques, and solutions. To understand WNs it is very important that both students and practitioners be exposed firstly to the main idea and basic principles of wireless transmission, and after that to perceive how variou

In general about the book

Wireless networks (WNs) constitute one of the most dynamically developing fields of telecommunications, nowadays. As complex systems these networks are composed of many building blocks whose operation depends on numerous factors. Contrary to traditional communication paradigm that deals with fixed networks, WNs raise a new set of questions, techniques, and solutions. To understand WNs it is very important that both students and practitioners be exposed firstly to the main idea and basic principles of wireless transmission, and after that to perceive how various parts of the network operate and communicate. This book attempts to provide a balanced view of all-important aspects of WNs. It has fifteen chapters which are organized into the following four principles parts: I) Technical Background (Chapters 2 through 4); II) Wireless Communication Technology (Chapters 5 through 7); III) Wireless Networking (Chapters 9 through 12); and IV) Wireless LANs (Chapters 13 through 15). In addition four appendices, Glossary, References, and Index are accompanied to the book.

Chapter content

Chapter 1 is just an introduction, it gives the reader an overview of the book.

Part I starts with Chapter 2 where an overview of transmissions fundamentals are given. Chapter 3 deals with basic principles of communication network technologies, such as circuit switching, packet switching and ATM. Chapter 4 covers the concept and need for protocol architecture, explains the OSI reference model and involves the TCP/IP protocol architecture.

In general, Part II is devoted to fundamentals of wireless transmission (WT) and encoding of analog and digital data for WT. Chapter 5 builds the fundamental framework for WT. Overview of antennas, three different types of propagation modes, various transmission impairments, and key issue of fading are presented in this chapter. Chapter 6 gives an introduction to signal encoding techniques. Chapter 7 discusses spread-spectrum techniques. Two general approaches are considered: frequency hopping and direct sequence. In addition, the concept of CDMA is presented. Chapter 8 provides an introduction to techniques for coding and error control used in WT. This chapter contains well enough material concerning error correction techniques.

Major types of WNs, including satellite based networks, cellular networks, cordless systems and mobile IP are in the focus of interest in Part III. In Chapter 9 the basic principles of satellite communications are given. Chapter 10 presents an overview of cellular WNs, starting with 1G analog, then continues with 2G digital cellular networks, and finally concludes with 3G networks. Two technologies that bring wireless access into the residence and office: cordless systems and wireless local loop are discussed in Chapter 11. Chapter 12 deals with topic related to modifications of IP in order to accommodate wireless access to the Internet. Part IV is devoted to wireless LANs (WLANs). Chapter 13 provides the reader with an overview of LAN and WLAN technology and applications. Chapter 14 concentrates on IEEE 802.11 WLAN standard. In Chapter 15 the principles of Bluetooth as an open specification for short range wireless voice and data communications are presented.

Four appendices are included to support the material in the text. Appendix A gives some background on the nature and relevance of standards. Appendix B concentrates of the concept of traffic analysis. Appendix C deals with Fourier analysis. Finally, Appendix D looks at HDLC. Some of the chapters, such as 2,4,6,11 and 12, include appendices giving more details covering the material in the chapter. Each chapter ends with the following subsections: a) Recommended Reading and Web Sites; and b) Key Terms, Review Questions and Problems.

Useful book

The material presented in the book is intended to support an introductory course on wireless communication networks. I find this book extremely clear, interesting, well organized, and self- contained. The text is well written and the cleanliness of contents helps the reader to reach the goal of learning the basic principles of operation of WNs. This book is definitely a good choice for those who are interested in gaining more comprehensive knowledge about WNs, too. Therefore, I would certainly fully recommend it to senior-level or graduate students of electrical engineering and computer science, and researchers looking for a very up to date text on wireless communication and WNs. A really good book to start with.