| We can always wait a bit longer to write a better book on technology.We can always wait . . .
In this ever-changing technological scenario, keeping pace with the rapid evolution of wireless technology is a formidable, exciting, and indispensable task more than a challenge. The work is indeed herculean and often discouraging, for technology is vast, the number of topics to be approached is immense, the documentation on standards and recommendations comprises piles of uncountable pages, and we often find we are leaving something important behind when selecting the appropriate subject matter to explore. The consolation, if any, is that as we explore the technologies, we find that much commonality exists among them, although particular features are rather different in each.
The challenge of writing a book in such a “hot” and vivacious field is to provide a clear and concise resource to accommodate the learning process of the basic functions of the main technologies. I did try to keep this in mind throughout the course of selection and description of the topics included in this book. I hope I have succeeded, at least to a certain extent. The book, divided into five parts, describes protocols, standards, and techniques for 2G and 3G technologies, including those specific to wireless multimedia.
The first part—Introduction—contains three chapters and covers the basic principles of wireless communications. The second part—2G Systems— consists of two chapters and describes two leading technologies of the second generation. The third part—Wireless Data—comprises one chapter and introduces three main wireless data technologies. The fourth part—3G Systems— encompasses three chapters and details the general concepts of thirdgeneration systems as well as two chief third-generation technologies. The fifth part—Appendices—provides a glimpse at some telecommunication issues that are relevant to the understanding of the main text and that are not covered in the introductory part of the book. |