Product Description

The mobile communications market remains the fastest growing segment of the global computing and communications business. The rapid progress and convergence of the field has created a need for new techniques and solutions, knowledgeable professionals to create and implement them, and courses to teach the background theory and technologies while pointing the way towards future trends.

In this book Jochen Schiller draws on his extensive experience to provide a thorough grounding in mobile communications, describing the state of the art in industry and research while giving a detailed technical background to the area. The book covers all the important aspects of mobile and wireless communications from the Internet to signals, access protocols and cellular systems, emphasizing the key area of digital data transfer. It uses a wide range of examples and other teaching aids, making it suitable for self-study and university classes.

The book begins with an overview of mobile and wireless applications, covering the history and market, and providing the foundations of wireless transmission and Medium Access Control. Four different groups of wireless network technologies are then covered: telecommunications systems, satellite systems, broadcast systems and wireless LAN. The following chapters about the network and transport layers address the impairments and solutions using well-known Internet protocols such as TCP/IP in a mobile and wireless environment. The book concludes with a chapter on technologies supporting applications in mobile networks, focusing on the Web and the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). Each chapter concludes with a set of exercises for self-study (with solutions available to instructors) and references to standards, organizations and research work related to the topic.

New to this edition

• Integration of higher data rates for GSM (HSCSD, GPRS)
• New material on 3rd generation (3G) systems with in-depth discussion of UMTS/W-CDMA
• Addition of the new WLAN standards for higher data rates: 802.11a, b, g and HiperLAN2
• Extension of Bluetooth coverage to include IEEE 802.15, profiles and applications
• Increased coverage of ad-hoc networking and wireless profiled TCP
• Migration of WAP 1.x and i-mode towards WAP 2.0

Jochen Schiller is head of the Computer Systems and Telematics Working Group in the Institute of Computer Science, Freie Universitat Berlin, and a consultant to several companies in the networking and communication business. His research includes mobile and wireless communications, communication architectures and operating systems for embedded devices, and QoS aspects in communication systems.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45902 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 492 pages

From the Back Cover

The mobile communications market remains the fastest growing segment of the global computing and communications business. The rapid progress and convergence of the field has created a need for new techniques and solutions, knowledgeable professionals to create and implement them, and courses to teach the background theory and technologies while pointing the way towards future trends.

In this book Jochen Schiller draws on his extensive experience to provide a thorough grounding in mobile communications, describing the state of the art in industry and research while giving a detailed technical background to the area. The book covers all the important aspects of mobile and wireless communications from the Internet to signals, access protocols and cellular systems, emphasizing the key area of digital data transfer. It uses a wide range of examples and other teaching aids, making it suitable for self-study and university classes.

The book begins with an overview of mobile and wireless applications, covering the history and market, and providing the foundations of wireless transmission and Medium Access Control. Four different groups of wireless network technologies are then covered: telecommunications systems, satellite systems, broadcast systems and wireless LAN. The following chapters about the network and transport layers address the impairments and solutions using well-known Internet protocols such as TCP/IP in a mobile and wireless environment. The book concludes with a chapter on technologies supporting applications in mobile networks, focusing on the Web and the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). Each chapter concludes with a set of exercises for self-study (with solutions available to instructors) and references to standards, organizations and research work related to the topic.

New to this edition

• Integration of higher data rates for GSM (HSCSD, GPRS)
• New material on 3rd generation (3G) systems with in-depth discussion of UMTS/W-CDMA
• Addition of the new WLAN standards for higher data rates: 802.11a, b, g and HiperLAN2
• Extension of Bluetooth coverage to include IEEE 802.15, profiles and applications
• Increased coverage of ad-hoc networking and wireless profiled TCP
• Migration of WAP 1.x and i-mode towards WAP 2.0

Jochen Schiller is head of the Computer Systems and Telematics Working Group in the Institute of Computer Science, Freie Universitat Berlin, and a consultant to several companies in the networking and communication business. His research includes mobile and wireless communications, communication architectures and operating systems for embedded devices, and QoS aspects in communication systems.

About the Author

Jochen H. Schiller

received his Master’s and PhD degrees in computer science from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1993 and 1996, respectively. In 1996 -1997 he was a DFG postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Computer Systems, Uppsala University, Sweden. Between June 1997 and April 2001 he was researcher at the Institute of Telematics, University of Karlsruhe. In September 1999, he was appointed Associate Professor attached to the École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), Université du Québec, Canada. Between April 2000 and July 2000 he was Chair of Distributed Systems, Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany, In February 2001 he received his habilitation on the topic "Quality of Service Aspects in Mobile Communication Systems". Since April 2001 he is Full Professor, Chair of Computer Systems & Telematics, Institute of Computer Science, Freie Universit™t Berlin, Germany. He co-authored many articles and several book chapters on mobile and wireless networks, quality of service aspects and security issues.

Excerpted from Mobile Communications by Jochen Schiller. Copyright © 1999. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
We are experiencing exponential growth rates in mobile communication systems, increasing mobility awareness in society, and deregulation of former monopolized markets.

While traditional communication paradigms deal with fixed networks, mobility raises a new set of questions, techniques, and solutions. For many countries, mobile communication is the only solution due to the lack of an appropriate fixed communication infrastructure. The trends mentioned above create an ever-increasing demand for well-educated communication engineers who understand the developments and possibilities of mobile communication. What we see today is only the beginning. There are many new and exciting systems currently being developed in research labs. The future will see more and more mobile devices, the merging of classical voice and data transmission technologies, and the extension of today's Internet applications (e.g., the world wide web) onto mobile and wireless devices. New applications and new mobile networks will bring ubiquitous multimedia computing to the mass market; radios, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptops and mobile phones will converge and many different functions will be available on one device.

This book is an introduction to the field of mobile communications and focuses on digital data transfer. The book is intended for use by students of EE or CS in computer networking or communication classes, engineers working with fixed networks who want to see the future trends in networking, as well as managers who need a comprehensible overview in mobile communication. The reader requires a basic understanding of communication and a rough knowledge of the Internet or networking in general. While resources are available which focus on a particular technology, this book tries to cover many aspects of mobile communications from a computer science point of view. Furthermore, the book points out common properties of different technical solutions and shows the integration of services and applications well-known from fixed networks into networks supporting mobility of end systems and wireless access. If the reader is interested in more detailed information regarding a certain topic, he or she will find many pointers to research publications or related web sites.

Teachers may find this book useful for a course which follows after a general data communication or computer networking class. The book can also replace parts of more general courses if it is used together with other books covering fixed networks or aspects of high-speed networks. It should be straightforward to teach a mobile networking class using this book together with the course material provided online.

The material comprises all of the figures, over 370 slides in English and German as PDF and PowerPoint(tm) files, a list of all acronyms, and many links to related sites. Additionally, the questions included in the book can provide a good self-test for students.

This book addresses people who want to know how mobile phone systems work, what technology will be next in satellite communication, and how mobility will influence applications, security, or networks. Engineers working in fixed networks can see paths of migration towards mixed fixed/mobile networks.

The book follows a 'tall and thin' approach. It covers a whole course in mobile communication, from signals, access protocols, up to application requirements and security, and does not stress single topics to the neglect of others. It focuses on digital mobile communication systems, as the future belongs to digital systems such as CDMA, GSM, DECT, DAB. New and important topics in the higher layers of communication, like the wireless application protocol (WAP), are included.

Chapter 1 introduces the field of mobile and wireless communication, presents a short history and challenges for research, and concludes with a market vision which shows the potential of mobile technology. Chapter 2 follows the classical layers of communication systems and explains the basics of wireless technology from a computer science point of view. Topics in this chapter are signal propagation, multiplexing, and modulation. Profound electrical engineering knowledge is not required, however it is necessary to comprehend the basic principles of wireless transmission to understand the design decisions of higher layer communication protocols and applications. Chapter 3 presents several media access schemes and motivates why the standard schemes from fixed networks fail if used in a wireless environment.

Chapters 4-8 present different wireless communication systems and may be read in any order. All systems have in common that they involve wireless access to a network and that they can transfer arbitrary data between communication partners. Chapter 4 comprises global system for mobile communications (GSM) as today's most successful public mobile phone system, cordless phone technology, trunked radios, and the future development with universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS). Satellite systems are covered in chapter 5, while chapter 6 discusses digital broadcast systems such as digital audio broadcasting (DAB) which can be one component of a larger communication system providing end-users with mass data. Wireless LANs as replacement for cabling inside buildings are presented in chapter 7. Examples are IEEE 802.11, HIPERLAN, and Bluetooth. Chapter 8 focuses on wireless ATM, i.e., the extension of the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology into the wireless domain. A special feature of wireless ATM is the provisioning of quality of service (QOS), i.e., the system can give guarantees for, such as bandwidth or error rates.

Chapter 9 mainly presents Mobile IP, the extension of the Internet protocol (IP) into the mobile domain. Ad hoc networks with their requirements for specific routing protocols are also covered. The subsequent layer, the transport layer, is covered in chapter 10. This chapter discusses several approaches of adapting the current transmission control protocol (TCP), which is well-known from the Internet, to the special requirements of mobile communication systems. Finally, chapter 11 presents the new wireless application protocol (WAP) standard that enables wireless and mobile devices to use the world wide web (www) from today's fixed Internet.

The book is based on a course taught at the University of Karlsruhe. The course typically consists of 14 lectures of 90 minutes each. Over 150 students have already used the material compiled for this book, which, remember is available online.

You are encouraged to send any comments regarding the book or course material to schiller@computer.org. Finally, I hope you enjoy reading the book and forgive me for simplifications I have used to avoid blurring the big picture of mobile communications. Many such details may change as research and standards evolve over time.

Customer Reviews

An excellent overview of communication technologies
This book offers a very comprehensive review of today's and emerging communication technologies. Starting with basics (modulations and multiplexing schemes), the author gives a very thorough review of all communication technologies from GSM to satellite communication and Internet. The great variety of communication protocols and standards are explained in details. Finally, there is also a rich review of emerging technologies such as GPRS, UMTS and Bluetooth with surprisingly lot of information.

The reader will acknowledge excellent support in rich bibliography and very comprehensive list of related web-sites. An excellent reference for research and design engineers, managers, general readers and students!

just what i needed
I highly recomend this book for any person interested in mobile and wireless communication. I bought this book as it was a core book for a course in my university degree but I found that it can help me in a lot of other topics that I wanted to learn about. Seriously if you are interested in mobile communication, this book is a must, very well organized and structured, easy to follow and very easy to understand

Good reference - not overly mathematical, yet detailed
A excellent introduction to the latest mobile communications technologies. Sufficiently technical to give the reader a very good background into these areas, Schiller nevertheless manages to explain things with sufficient clarity for readers new to this area. The accompanying web site is also very useful.