3G Wireless with 802.16 and 802.11 (McGraw-Hill Professional Engineering)

Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction, Not for the Technologically Challenged
Review: Perhaps the fastest changing technology area is wireless communications. The old analog cell phone systems got us started with the idea of being able to talk anywhere. And if we could talk, we could send data. And if this worked, then the newer digital networks had to be designed from the ground up with a mixture of voice and data. Now we are reaching to the point where wireless may become a serious competitor to land lines for data communications. Already we see wireless networks in Starbucks and McDonalds, hidden below the surface are ATM machines, gas pumps, cash registers and more. The new IEEE 802.16 is bringing standardization to wireless broadband access, just as DSL and cable modem broadband.

This book is a snapshot of the technology of wireless data communications technology as it exists today. It is intended for the person who is thinking about or planning on the installation of a wireless data network. Part of the McGraw-Hill Professional Engineering series, it is a description of the technology itself. It is not a cookbook of the buy one of these and plug it into one of those types. It goes into the details of how the technology works. It describes all of the new buzz words. It is an introduction to Wi-Fi and WiMAX, but is not aimed at the total beginner or the shall we say technologically challenged.