ABSTRACT
CONTENTS 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 3 1.2 The IEEE 802 Standards Family ................................................................. 4
1.2.1 IEEE 802.11 ........................................................................................ 6 1.2.2 IEEE 802.20 ........................................................................................ 7
1.3 Cellular Networks ........................................................................................ 8 1.4 ETSI HIPERLAN Standard ........................................................................ 11 1.5 Bluetooth ...................................................................................................... 12 1.6 Other Wireless Networking Technologies .............................................. 14 1.7 Competing Technologies ........................................................................... 14
1.7.1 IEEE 802.20 ...................................................................................... 14 1.7.2 Cellular Networks .......................................................................... 15
1.8 Complementary Technologies .................................................................. 16 1.8.1 IEEE 802.11 ...................................................................................... 16 1.8.2 IEEE 802.15 ...................................................................................... 17
1.9 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 17 References ............................................................................................................. 17
Until the year 2000, users of the Internet accessed its contents primarily through wired, fixed infrastructure sites (e.g., universities, home dial-up connections, and corporate and government facilities). However, technology has evolved such that a significant number of users today access Internet services wirelessly. This “access revolution’’ has gone hand-in-hand with the increasing usage of laptop computers and smaller mobile wireless devices such as cellular telephones and RIM BlackBerry™ devices. The cumulative result
and
has created an information-centric society where users rely on network services in most aspects of their day-to-day life. The emerging wireless Internet architecture aims to continue the access revolution by supporting an increasing number of users at increased data rates, such that the user experience is similar to the experience from a wired, high-speed connection. A variety of wireless technologies have been proposed, both in standards organizations and by industry consortiums, to enable wireless network access. This chapter discusses some of the most popular technologies available today, those that are expected to be available in the future, and how these technologies may compete or compliment WiMAX technology.
