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.

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.
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