| The market for wireless communications has enjoyed tremendous growth. Wireless
technology now reaches or is capable of reaching virtually every location on the
face of the earth. Hundreds of millions of people exchange information every day
using laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, cellular phones, and other
wireless communication devices. Success of outdoor and indoor wireless communication
networks has led to numerous applications in sectors ranging from
industries and enterprises to homes and universities. No longer bound by the
harnesses of wired networks, people are able to access and share information on a
global scale nearly anywhere they venture.
Some of the most remarkable growth has occurred in the deployment of wireless
LANs (WLANs) where IEEE 802.11 based wireless networks have been used to
provide connectivity not only as hotspots but also to substantial portions of a city.
At the same time, we are also witnessing a significant trend in the emergence of
small and low-cost computation and communication devices. While these tiny
devices, called sensor nodes, are tightly constrained in terms of energy, storage
capacity, and data processing capability, they have the potential to serve as a
catalyst for a major change in how we communicate and interact with the
environment.
This book aims to address challenging issues in wireless networks, in particular,
wireless LANs, multihop wireless networks, sensor networks and their applications.
In addition, the book discusses emerging applications and new paradigms, for
example, middleware for RFID, smart home design, and ‘‘on-demand business’’ in
the context of pervasive computing.
The objective of the book is twofold: to bridge the gap between practice and
theory and between different types of related wireless networks.
We believe that the theme and focus of the book is timely. The book focuses on
important topics of current interest in wireless, mobile, and sensor networks and
covers issues ranging from architecture, protocols, modeling and analysis to new
applications, solutions, and emerging paradigms. |
