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Wireless Data Demystified
by John R. Vacca
Ernest Lilley 05/04/03
(excerpted from Ernest's "Unleashed" column on Byte.com)
Website / Spec/PR /
PubDate: 2003
MSRP: 49.95 Amazon Price34.97
John R. Vacca's already written the book on wireless data, and his Wireless Broadband Networks Handbook is essential reference material for wireless engineering mavens, and a cure for insomnia for the rest of us. In Wireless Data Demystified, he covers a lot of ground
and he does it while maintaining readability without losing too much detail in
the process.
Even in paperback, it's
a doorstopper, but that's fine considering the amount of information he's packed
in here and the wide overview of the subject he takes. All too often I get
bogged down in whatever technology I'm writing about and miss the forest for the
trees. He doesn't, and in the process I came across technologies that I
remembered to be excited about, including Ultra Wideband or "UWB", which the
FCC released its approval of not long ago.
UWB devices use short duration pulses that result in very wideband transmission bandwidths. This allows them to operate using spectrum occupied by existing radio services without causing interference, hence permitting spectrum resources to be used more efficiently. Because they use such short pulses, it's also a technology with power saving implications, and the range of applications is broad as well, including ground penetrating radar for rescue workers, collision avoidance radar for cars and even home networking.
You can get as much or as little detail as you need out of the book, since it's well organized and each chapter's summary recaps the information cogently. Section by section, he covers wireless data from overview, to planning, implementing, configuring and planning for the future. Check the table of contents for a closer look at the material covered.
Whenever people talk about wireless data the question of what will drive more than incidental adoption of the technology. We've got the know how, but relatively few people see a need for it. figuring that he'd have an idea if anyone did, I asked the author for his thoughts on data service adoption.
"Wireless data services will eventually be a lucrative revenue stream for wireless carriers, attracting an estimated 107.4 million subscribers by 2007. Even though voice-only services account for 96 percent of wireless carriers’ revenues, by 2004, voice-only subscribers will reach 231.8 million, up from 120.7 million in 2002, and voice and data users will nearly double to 44.5 million, from 22.3 million.
By 2007, voice-only subscribers will fall to 99.3 million, while voice plus data users will rise to 107.4 million. These figures are encouraging, but success in the wireless data market is burdened with new challenges. There are numerous facets that need to align in order to ensure success in wireless data: networks must be upgraded, handsets must be distributed, appealing content needs to be available, and the customers must be taught how to effectively use the data services."
And that's the real trick, isn't it?