Book Review
Department Editor: Warren Keuffel, wkeuffel@computer.org

Communicating with Less Wire or Wireless: Whose Choice Is It, after All?

Harekrishna Misra

The Essential Guide to Wireless Communications Applications: From Cellular to Wi-Fi, Andy Dornan, Prentice Hall, 2002, ISBN 0-13-009718-7, 414 pp., US$34.99.

Wireless communication and mobile computing will probably remain two of the most important technological issues in the near future. Revolutions in technology in general, and in information technology in particular, have paved the way for the development of increasingly small yet increasingly powerful multimode communication devices for use worldwide. We’re entering an era of mobile services where technology, business, and, above all, connectivity converge.

Despite technological advancements and mobile technology’s popularity in the telecommunications sector, “last-mile syndrome” is still the problem of the day, and most countries are lagging in addressing this phenomenon. Last-mile syndrome limits a user’s ability to fully benefit from the available bandwidth because the medium connecting the user and the telephone subscriber exchange has limited capacity. However, all the subscriber exchanges have high bandwidth connectivity. (It resembles a situation where a village close to a highway is inaccessible because the road that connects the village to the highway is narrow and unstable.)

It’s a commonly held idea that wireless connectivity would solve this issue. In reality, technologies that will interface wireless, landline, and network communications have yet to stabilize. This technology’s cost-prohibitive nature has limited the entry of service providers. Many reputable companies adopting wireless technologies to provide service have even gone bankrupt, despite heavy investments.

Now in its second edition, The Essential Guide to Wireless Communications Applications: From Cellular to Wi-Fi explores the path that wireless technology has traveled to date and provides a possible road map for the future. Andy Dornan’s nontechnical style allows even a novice to understand the technology and the various options’ strengths and weaknesses. However, the book also meets IT professionals’ requirements; its strengths include in-depth analyses of the technology itself, as well as of spectrum management, spread-spectrum utility, and last-mile connectivity options. In Dornan’s discussion of mapping IP with the Wireless Application Protocol through the Open Source Initiative model, he thoroughly addresses each protocol’s limitations and its behavior in establishing connectivity.

Although the book’s suggestions for developing a wireless infrastructure are a strength, Dornan assumes that the reader is knowledgeable about antenna technology and engineering. A chapter on antennas and their uses and limitations would be valuable and would make the book more complete. Because the book aims to inform the reader about wireless technology’s limitations in providing multimode and converged multimedia services through seamless connectivity, some case studies at the end of each chapter would also be helpful. Spectrum management is quite well covered, although a focused discussion on its micro- and macro-level limitations would give the reader a more comprehensive understanding.

While Andy Dornan effectively guides the reader through the wireless world, The Essential Guide to Wireless Communications Applications: From Cellular to Wi-Fi seems lacking in not recommending a solution to the problem of adopting wireless technology as a general-purpose technology. A discussion about the unit cost of ownership of various technology options for addressing the last-mile syndrome would also have been helpful. However, I strongly recommend the book for readers ranging from technological novices to high-end service providers.

Harekrishna Misra is an associate professor at the Institute of Rural Management in Gujarat, India. Contact him at hkmishra@ieee.org.