The Essential Guide to RF and Wireless [Paperback]

Carl J. Weisman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 13, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0130259624 | ISBN-13: 978-0130259622 | Edition: 1st

The complete, friendly, non-technical introduction to wireless and RF technologies! The Essential Guide to RF and Wireless covers wireless and RF technologies at every level non-technical professionals need to understand, including fundamental concepts, basic terminology, components, system building blocks, and complete systems. Carl J. Weisman introduces each of today's hottest wireless technologies, including spread spectrum, wireless local loop, ISM, LMDS, CDMA -- as well as some of tomorrow's most promising standards. The book is remarkably accessible: written in a light, engaging tone, with extensive use of figures, photographs, and visual analogies proven to make wireless and RF technologies easier to understand. For anyone working in and around the wireless/RF industries who does not have an engineering degree or strong technical background.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Preface

Nobody disputes the importance of wireless communications, and while it will surely continue to change and evolve, it is here to stay. Anybody who has received an urgent page, made an emergency call on a mobile phone, watched cable television, or been caught speeding by radar, will attest to its pervasiveness throughout everyday life. It is in recognition of the importance of RF electronics and its role in wireless communications that this book is written.

This book simplifies the subject of RF electronics with analogies, metaphors, and a minimum of mathematics. Many photographs and figures are included to further help explain the subject. Unlike other books of its kind, however, it takes a distinctly lighthearted approach to the subject by incorporating witticisms and sarcasm, occasionally directed at the book's hypothetical protagonist: the RF engineer. This book is intentionally made lighthearted because the subject matter is so dry. My feeling is, no matter how brilliantly written or factually correct an introductory book on RF is, if it is too long and boring, you will never get past the first chapter.

The Essential Guide to RF and Wireless takes an overly simplistic approach to the subject matter. In this vein, it accomplishes two main objectives: it provides a conceptual understanding of RF components and wireless systems, and it exposes you to the main vocabulary used in the industry. You can hardly expect to understand a topic as complex as wireless communications without first learning its lingua franca.

The Essential Guide to RF and Wireless is intended for nontechnical people who know absolutely nothing about RF, but need to or just want to explore the subject. For every engineer working in the field of RF, there are many more nontechnical people working in the field who can benefit from understanding and speaking RF. They include nontechnical managers, sales administrators, distribution specialists, manufacturer's representatives, buyers, marketing and communications personnel, advertising agents, trade show booth staffers, executive recruiters, financial analysts, and technical writers.

This book can be used in three different ways. First, it can be read cover-to-cover as the material is organized in such a way that each successive chapter builds on the one before it, starting with basic concepts and terminology, and ending with the various kinds of wireless systems. Second, each chapter can be read on a stand-alone basis, for those who need to quickly grasp a single subject or concept. Because of this stand-alone structure, some of the subject matter is repeated in an effort to make each chapter understandable by itself. Finally, this book can be used as a reference. The many tables, the Glossary, and Appendices A and B provide quick access to terminology, acronyms, and specifications used in the wireless industry.

Regardless of how you use this book, if you are new to the subject of RF, you should read all of Part 1 (Chapters 1 and 2), as the rest of the book builds on the fundamental concepts and vocabulary introduced there.

Part 2 (Chapters 3, 4, and 5) is primarily intended for those working in the RF and wireless industry, as it covers the workings of an RF system in great detail. All of the important building blocks used to make RF hardware are explained in detail, as are the different technologies used to manufacture them. Also covered is the fascinating topic of modulation, which is how ground-based information gets prepared to enter the wireless world.

Finally, Part 3 (Chapters 6 and 7) is where the fun begins. This part of the book gives you an overview of several wireless systems. Chapter 6 discusses some systems you are already familiar with, but probably never knew how they worked. Finally, Chapter 7 introduces you to the newer systems, for which the term wireless was invented. You will learn about some established wireless systems, as well as some systems that are so new they have yet to be fully deployed, or in some cases, even fully authorized.

I would like to thank one very special person, Deborah Person, who spent her valuable time to help me with this book. She was a tremendous source of encouragement and her effort was invaluable in proofreading the manuscript, which is quite a feat for an accountant.

If you would like to provide me with feedback on this book, feel free to contact me at weisman@flash

Enjoy.

From the Back Cover

The only easy-to-understand guide to the wireless revolution!

There's a wireless revolution underway -- and with The Essential Guide to RF and Wireless, you can learn all you need to know about it, even if you don't have a technical background! Industry veteran Carl J. Weisman presents wireless and RF technology at every level: fundamental concepts, basic terminology, components, system building blocks, complete systems, and more. You'll find up-to-the-minute coverage of all of today's hottest wireless and RF technologies -- and tomorrow's!

• Spread spectrum and CDMA: how they work, where they're used
• Wireless local loop (WLL): wireless solutions for the "last mile"
• ISM-based wireless LANs
• Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS): a new alternative for broadband wireless service
• And more!

The Essential Guide to RF and Wireless is friendly and accessible -- with dozens of charts, diagrams, and photographs that make advanced wireless and RF technology easier to understand than ever before. Whether you're a sales or marketing pro, customer, investor, tech writer, PR specialist, or student, it's the complete, up-to-the-minute briefing you've been searching for!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Ptr; 1st edition (December 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130259624
• ISBN-13: 978-0130259622
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,314,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Are you planning to build or design an RF circuit?, May 24, 2001

By 

Dave (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Guide to RF and Wireless (Paperback)

This book is NOT for you if you plan on building or designing an RF circuit. It is definetely not for the TECHNICAL consumer.

But it is meant for people who just want to get the gist of RF technology. This review is to warn people who are planning to get into the area of RF. You may want to purchase RF Circuit Design by Chris Bowick instead. If your into the theory of RF, avoid this book.

3 stars and no less because it was well written. No more no less.

And Carl Weisman was right, when he said "hide the book from engineers."

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview for the non-specialist, March 2, 2000

By 

Amrit Tiwana "www.bus.iastate.edu/tiwana" (Decatur, Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Essential Guide to RF and Wireless (Paperback)

This book is an excellent overview for a person who does not have a formal background in wireless and RF. I think that the author has used good judgement in balancing depth of coverage and breadth of topics. I would strongly recommend it...surely worth the money. Competing titles that I've seen are not meant for the newbie, and many such as Newton's are good but do not solely focus on the wireless aspect of things. I would hope that the author will bring in more coverage of WAP-like protocols and wireless PDA technologies like the ones used---unsuccesfully or succesfully---in the new Palm devices. Heartily Recommended.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for investors in the wireless industry!, February 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Essential Guide to RF and Wireless (Paperback)

I found The Essential Guide to RF and Wireless to be very helpful in understanding the basic concepts and terminology of the wireless industry. As an avid investor, I have in the past invested in companies that are involved in the manufacturing of wireless components without a clue of how they worked. I just knew that wireless was a rapidly growing industry and is quickly becoming an integral part of our society. This book provided me a basic understanding of how wireless works in a very non-technical matter. It was very easy to read with lots of examples and industry tidbits thrown in. The author takes no liberties regarding the knowledge of his readers and explains even the most basic concepts. This may seem mundane to the more adept readers, but very much appreciated by those of us with little or no knowledge of the wireless industry. I have highly recommended this book to my family, friends, and co-workers and would suggest that investors hoping to benefit from the tremendous performance of wireless stocks give it a read.