Fundamentals of Wireless Communication

Description

The past decade has seen many advances in physical layer wireless communication theory and their implementation in wireless systems. This textbook takes a unified view of the fundamentals of wireless communication and explains the web of concepts underpinning these advances at a level accessible to an audience with a basic background in probability and digital communication. Topics covered include MIMO (multi-input, multi-output) communication, space-time coding, opportunistic communication, OFDM and CDMA. The concepts are illustrated using many examples from real wireless systems such as GSM, IS-95 (CDMA), IS-856 (1 x EV-DO), Flash OFDM and UWB (ultra-wideband). Particular emphasis is placed on the interplay between concepts and their implementation in real systems. An abundant supply of exercises and figures reinforce the material in the text. This book is intended for use on graduate courses in electrical and computer engineering and will also be of great interest to practising engineers. Review: The only one of its kind - This actually is the only book that presents a treatment of wireless communincations in throughly rigorous way, and yet does not loose touch with practice. The usual books in digital communication, especially the industry standard Salehi, have mostly been outdated by this book. I have done coursework with Viswanath, and was one of the students on which the initial drafts of this books was "tried and tested." Viswanath has few equals in his research area (which itself he keeps expanding), and consistently amazes everyone with how closely he is in touch with what the industry is doing. This is reflected throughout the book. The book can be reqd with the standard prereqs - a good understanding of undergraduate to first year graduate probability is required understand anything in communications theory, so that goes without saying. Some parts of the book will carry more juice for people who have a good knowledge of information theory, but Tse & Viswanath include a beautifully written appendix for people without this knowledge. The appendix is worth reading by itself, even for people who have taken courses in information theory before! The chapter that compares various wireless systems alone is worth the price of the book. As another reviewer pointed out, the exercises are not all simple. These were given in a homework setting, and there were TA's to assist people with the problems. They may be a little hard to solve alone. Review: El mejor libro sobre comunicaciones inalámbricas para estudios de posgrado/doctorado - Estoy realizando el doctorado en Telecomunicaciones con investigaciones en el ámbito de comunicaciones inalámbricas (estimación de canal, MIMO-OFDM, etc.). No encontraba ningún libro que me resolviera dudas "básicas" dando un tratamiento suficientemente formal. Este libro saca todas las ecuaciones desde cero, partiendo de modelos simplificados de cómo rebotan las ondas, etc. Con simplificaciones fáciles de seguir, te ayudan a entender los fundamentos físico-matemáticos de las comunicaciones inalámbricas. Es un libro imprescindible si vas a investigar algo sobre el tema o te vas a dedicar profesionalmente a ello. Además, está muy bien explicado y lleno de ejemplos. El libro comienza con los aspectos básicos (transmisión de ondas, estimación de canal, diversidad en tiempo/frecuencia/antenas, sistemas celulares) y, más adelante, repasa en profundidad MIMO durante cuatro temas. Creo que este manual te dará las herramientas básicas para luego entender "papers" y seguir investigando. Eso sí, su tratamiento de los temas es muy formal y matemático. Si lo que quieres es un libro para entender por encima el vocabulario y escribir artículos en prensa general (por ejemplo, porque seas periodista), este no es tu libro. Si lo que quieres es entender de verdad los fundamentos de las comunicaciones inalámbricas, este sí es tu libro. Ideal para estudios de posgrado/doctorado en telecomunicaciones.