Why we wrote this book

The writing of this book was prompted by two main developments in wireless communication in the past decade. First is the huge surge of research activities in physical-layer wireless communication theory. While this has been a subject of study since the sixties, recent developments such as opportunistic and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication techniques have brought completely new perspectives on how to communicate over wireless channels. Second is the rapid evolution of wireless systems, particularly cellular networks, which embody communication concepts of increasing sophistication. This evolution started with second-generation digital standards, particularly the IS-95 Code Division Multiple Access standard, continuing to more recent third-generation systems focusing on data applications. This book aims to present modern wireless communication concepts in a coherent and unified manner and to illustrate the concepts in the broader context of the wireless systems on which they have been applied.

Structure of the book

This book is a web of interlocking concepts. The concepts can be structured roughly into three levels:

1. channel characteristics and modeling;

2. communication concepts and techniques;

3. application of these concepts in a system context.

A wireless communication engineer should have an understanding of the concepts at all three levels as well as the tight interplay between the levels. We emphasize this interplay in the book by interlacing the chapters across these levels rather than presenting the topics sequentially from one level to the next.