16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique and Comprehensive, January 10, 2001
This review is from: Wireless and Mobile Network Architectures (Paperback)
The reviewer was in search of a book that could provide the basis for a course on mobile communications at the graduate level for students from a mixed (EE and CS) background. The new book by Lin and Chlamtac fits the bill perfectly. It assumes neither knowledge of wireless physical layer, nor knowledge of higher layer applications and application interfaces. In fact, it is a book with an original approach, being the first to present mobile networks by emphasizing the services that can be provided and the mobility management schemes needed to support such services. Because of its particular focus, the book is also an excellent text for systems and systems software developers as well as the senior undergrad or grad level science and engineering reader who is curious about the particular subject. Certain decisions were necessary to keep the book focused. For example, it stays clear of elaborating on modulation, coding and modeling for wireless communication (presenting just the essential info). It also avoids being IP-centric, although, naturally, it cannot escape discussing data services, such as SMS, GPRS, WAP etc.
An aspect that weighs in favor of the book is the inclusion of research results from the research of its two world renowned authors. The included research results can help the graduate level reader appreciate the available research opportunities, and the context in which solutions can be developed. The researcher will also find the collection of references (as recent as 2000) extremely helpful in studying the area. The teacher can use the material to develop simulation and analytical models for students to gain better insight to the workings of mobile services.
Another objective of the book, is to function as reference material. Its authors have done the hard work of distilling the essence of a large collection of standards documents related to mobility management. >From this point of view, the book will be of value in the longer term as well, making it an a perfectly sound investment.
A challenge dealt with successfully in this book is that in order to present mobility management, it ultimately needs to discuss about signaling protocols, and SS7 in particular. The book takes an approach of presenting background material on signaling on "as needed" basis. A reader not familiar with signaling, will likely progress slowly when signalling is first introduced, but, at the end, will have the double benefit of being exposed to signaling's central role in advanced communication services, and gain understanding on how mobile networks really work. Certainly, there are parts of the text where the density of acronyms calls for careful parsing of the sentences, but such is the case for any technical book that maintains a formal presentation style. It still beats reading standards documents.
After a short review and classification of the systems covered in the text, the book introduces the need and nature of mobility management followed by the most important aspect of mobility management, that of handoff management (detection, assignment and radio link transfer). Following the introduction, extensive attention is given to IS-41 (where, in a way, AMPS, IS-136 and IS-95 "meet" together) and to the GSM counterpart, the Mobile Application Part (MAP). Covered GSM services include the Short Message Service (SMS), International Roaming, and Operations, Administration and Maintenance. In this, first part of the book, what may appear odd at first is the inclusion of low-tier systems with few mobility management capabilities (such as CT 2, DECT etc.) but it serves as a reminder that little gems of protocols can be found in places one may not think looking at. Certainly the point is justified by the discussion of PACS signalling in a separate chapter. Another topic placed in this first part of the book (due to its relation with AMPS and IS-136) is CDPD's architecture and its radio resource allocation and roaming management.
The remaining half of the book is service-oriented. It covers how different types of services can be supported. The services include mobile number portability, VoIP service for mobile networks, GPRS, prepaid mobile phone services, and WAP. Following are two chapters covering the topic of heterogeneous PCS systems integration and the new (3rd) generation mobile services. The final three chapters cover three addition services that follow their own evolution path. Namely, paging systems, the wireless local loop and wireless enterprise networks.
Overall, this book is worth having. Whether you approach it as a student, as an instructor, as an engineer or just as interested to expand your knowledge, it has something to give you. It is unique in its approach and future books on the topic will be measured against it.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Introduction to Mobile Communications, January 10, 2001
This review is from: Wireless and Mobile Network Architectures (Paperback)
Wireless and Mobile Network Architectures is an excellent introduction to fundamental concepts of mobile communications. The book's co-authors, who are leading experts in the field, provide a well-written, thorough description of today's wireless mobile systems. Emphasis is on mobile network protocols and standards rather than radio technology. In particular, the book provides in-depth explanations of IS-41 and GSM protocols. Topics covered include international roaming, short message services, OA&M, mobile number portability, mobile prepaid services, mobile VoIP and WAP. 2.5G technology such as GPRS and 3G systems/trials, Bluetooth, and aspects of signal handoff. The explanations and descriptions of architectures and protocols are made clear through the use of many diagrams. Each chapter includes questions that can be used to reinforce the material, or for course assignments. There is also an extensive bibliography for those wishing to further explore mobile networking issues. This book is a comprehensive resource for anyone interested in understanding wireless and mobile networks. It would also make an excellent advanced undergraduate or graduate course textbook.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful and Timely, December 3, 2000
This review is from: Wireless and Mobile Network Architectures (Paperback)
This is a broad and comprehensive overview of wireless networking architectures. It's timely and very relevant. The book enables the reader to gain a good technical foundation across various wireless networks including PCS, 2.5G, and 3G cellular networks as well as Voice over IP and wireless local loop systems.However, the discussion on Bluetooth is too brief and the book does not cover wireless local area networks (e.g., the 802.11b standard).
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