This chapter considers various wireless communication systems including the following: wireless local area networks (WLANs), which enable communication between stations without cables by means of radio frequency or infrared; wireless asynchronous transfer mode (WATM), which facilitates the use of ATM technology for a broad range of wireless network access and internetworking scenarios; wireless personal area network (WPAN), which refers to using a near-field electric field to send data across various devices using the human body as a medium; and cellular communications, which allows frequency reuse by dividing regions into small cells, each cell with a stationary radio antenna.

Chapter Contents:

• 13.1 Wireless LAN
• 13.1.1 Physical Layer and Topology
• 13.1.2 Technologies
• 13.1.3 Standards
• 13.1.4 Applications
• 13.2 Wireless ATM
• 13.2.1 Overview of ATM
• 13.2.2 Wireless ATM Architecture
• 13.3 Wireless PAN
• 13.4 Cellular Communications
• 13.4.1 Fundamental Features
• 13.4.2 Cellular Network
• 13.4.3 Cellular Standards
• 13.5 Cellular Digital Packet Data
• 13.5.1 Network Architecture
• 13.5.2 Applications
• 13.6 WiMAX
• 13.7 Wireless Standards
• 13.8 Generations of Wireless Networks
• Summary
• Review Questions
• Problems

Inspec keywords: data communication; wireless LAN; personal area networks; asynchronous transfer mode; optical links; cellular radio; frequency allocation

Other keywords: wireless communication systems; wireless personal area network; ATM technology; internetworking scenario; frequency reuse; infrared links; wireless network access; wireless local area networks; radio frequency; wireless asynchronous transfer mode; stationary radio antenna; human body; cellular communication; WLAN; wireless data services; near field electric field

Subjects: Free-space optical links; Radio links and equipment; Computer communications; Communication switching