Wireless Local Area Networks

There is great interest in wireless local area networks (WLAN) because they provide more flexible access to the Internet, which is particularly beneficial for companies exhibiting at temporary events such as forums and conferences. Additionally WLAN is complemented by UMTS: whilst UMTS deals with real-time voice applications, WLAN is dedicated to computer servces. It opens up the possibility of going "beyond 3G" and extending the coverage of 3G networks, providing high bandwidth local hot-spots. The two systems can be combined to provide both nationwide mobility and hot-spot coverage, which provides substantial economic advantages for businesses. This publication covers the handling of mobility within IP radio access networks; IEEE 802.11, the most employed WLAN standard in congested environments, with both centralized and distributed access; indoor radio propagation at 60 Ghz; and multiple forward error codes.
A number of chapters describe interesting possible future applications which include the use of ultra wideband radio links, for the home entertainment market, as well as a description of an information service system in an exhibition hall, and a web service for location discovery and location-based printng services. Other topics covered include Wi-Fi, a version of WLAN which among other things provides practical mobile broadband access to the Internet, and counter-measures involving active network technology that can be used against distributed denial of service attacks.