Customer Reviews

Short-Range Wireless Communication: Fundamentals of RF System Design and Application (Demystified)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read the book from cover-to-cover and found it to be very well-written with a good assortment of pertinent topics. The field is so diverse that no single text of reasonable size could possibly hit on every aspect of wireless communication, but Mr. Bensky does an excellent job of presenting what would be of interest to the engineer either just out of college or switching focus into the realm of WLAN, Bluetooth, RFID, etc.

Beginning with the basics of transmission lines and the Smith Chart, the book progresses naturally through modulation techniques, transmitter and receiver fundamentals, and on through system design and regulatory requirements. This book is definitely one that a newbie would appreciate. Oh, and the CD with my book worked just fine (one reviewer claimed to have problems with it).

In my own effort at publishing the RF Cafe website, I seek out sources of information at all levels of complexity to provide accessible resources for visitors to the site. Mostly I focus on entry-level content for pages I create and provide hyperlinks to sites with all the in-depth material. The content of "Short-range Wireless Communication" represents precisely the type of content I would include on RF Cafe, so that explains why I think highly of the book ;-).

This book is clearly written and is a good introduction to the field of wireless communication. I am giving it only 3 stars because the CD-ROM does not work as advertised (it boasts an e-book version of the book, which cannot be unlocked because www.llh-publishing.com seems to have gone bankrupt and does not recognize the unlocking code; also, an errata for one of the worksheets is supposedly available at www.shortrangewireless.net, which nowadays contains no information related to this book). $39.95 (reduced price at Amazon as I'm writing this) is too big of a price for what you get (one softcover book and one plastic coaster). If you're not concerned about the CD-ROM you should be in good shape, but consider paying a lower price.

Short range wireless or "MicroRadio" is a field we are all familiar with. Garage door openers and keyless entry systems are common examples, and the field is now moving into the realm of sophisticated two way links, such as Bluetooth. Though many tens of millions of these links are sold per year, I believe this to be the first book devoted to the subject. It provides an excellent overview of the world wide regulations governing operation, which is particularly helpful for the convoluted European rules. The light mathematical introduction to communications systems and electronics is a good start, though serious practitioners will need more advanced references for detailed product development.

I am Electronic Engineer and do not have a lot of knwoledge of RF Area. This book is good for person who want to know the basics of RF, it is because many terms that you use on this book are still using on not short-range comunication. After read it you will have the basics to follow the next. I have been reading a friend's book, but now I will buy my own.

I found this book very useful and I often refer to it for reference purposes, however the mathcad worksheets on the CD were not correct. I obtained the correct updated worksheets and they work great. The worksheets are downloadable from the WEB Site www.shortrangewireless.net
Highly recommend this book, for people getting into low power radio.

I too agree that this book is overpriced without a working CD. Does a good job explaining things in simpler terms though. Buyer beware about the cd.