When we started thinking about writing this book, we had been working together for more
than five years on the borderline between propagation and signal processing.Therefore, it
is not surprising that this book deals with propagation models and design tools for MIMO
wirelesscommunications.Yet, thisbookshouldconstitutemorethanasimplecombination
of these two domains. It hopefully conveys our integrated understanding of MIMO, which
results from endless controversial discussions on various multi-antenna related issues, as
well as various interactions with numerous colleagues. Obviously, this area of technology
is so large that it was beyond our aim to cover all aspects in details. Rather, our goal has
been to provide researchers, R&D engineers and graduate students with a comprehensive
coverage of radio propagation models and space–time coding techniques.
Mobile wireless communications are in constant evolution due to the continu-
ously increasing requirements and expectations of both users and operators.
Mass multimedia* services have been for a long time expected to generate a large
amount of data traffic in future wireless networks [1]. Mass multimedia services
are, by definition, purposed for many people. In general, it can be distinguished
between the distribution of any popular content over a wide area and the distribu-
tion of location-dependent information in highly populated areas. Representative
examples include the delivery of live video streaming content (like sports compe-
titions, concerts, or news) and file download (multimedia clips, digital newspa-
pers, or software updates).
Communication protocols – for short protocols – form the basis for the opera-
tion of computer networks and telecommunication systems. They are behavior
conventions which describe how communication systems interact with each other
in computer networks. Protocols define the temporal order of the interactions and
the formats of the data units exchanged. Communication protocols comprise a
wide range of different functions and mechanisms, such as the sending and receiv-
ing of data units, their coding/decoding, error control mechanisms, timer control,
flow control, and many others.
The idea for this book was born during one of my project-related trips to the beautiful city
of Hangzhou in China, where in the role of Chief Architect I had to guide a team of very
young, very smart and extremely dedicated software developers and verification engineers.
Soon it became clear that as eager as the team was to jump into the coding, it did not have
any experience in system architecture and design and if I did not want to spend all my time in
constant travel between San Francisco and Hangzhou, the only option was to groom a number
of local junior architects. Logically, one of the first questions being asked by these carefully
selected future architects was whether I could recommend a book or other learning material
that could speed up the learning cycle. I could not. Of course, there were many books on
various related topics, but many of them were too old and most of the updated information
was either somewhere on the Internet dispersed between many sites and online magazines, or
buried in my brain along with many years of experience of system architecture.
The use of mobile devices now surpasses that of traditional computers: wireless
users will hence soon be demanding the same rich multimedia services on their
mobile devices that they have on their desktop personal computers. In addition,
new services will be added, especially related with their mobile needs, such as
location-based information services.
Electric distribution networks are critical parts of power delivery systems. In recent
years, many new technologies and distributed energy resources have been inte-
grated into these networks. To provide electricity at the possible lowest cost and at
required quality, long-term planning is essential for these networks. In distribution
planning, optimal location and size of necessary upgrades are determined to satisfy
the demand and the technical requirements of the loads and to tackle uncertainties
associated with load and distributed energy resources.
With all the recent hype over radio frequency identification (RFID) and
the requirements to implement it, you might think that RFID can turn
water into wine, transform lead into gold, and cure the world’s diseases. You
might also be worried that RFID will enable Big Brother to track your move-
ments to within a foot of your location from a satellite five hundred miles up
in space. The truth is, RFID can do none of these things.
In this chapter, you find out the basics of what RFID is, what forces are dri-
ving RFID as a replacement for the bar code in the marketplace, and what
benefits RFID can offer
With more than two billion terminals in commercial operation world-wide, wire-
less and mobile technologies have enabled a first wave of pervasive communication
systems and applications. Still, this is only the beginning as wireless technologies
such as RFID are currently contemplated with a deployment potential of tens of
billions of tags and a virtually unlimited application potential. A recent ITU report
depicts a scenario of “Internet of things” — a world in which billions of objects will
report their location, identity, and history over wireless connections.
MIT App Inventor is an innovative beginner’s introduction to programming and app
creation that transforms the complex language of text-based coding into visual, drag-and-
drop building blocks. The simple graphical interface grants even an inexperienced novice
the ability to create a basic, fully functional app within an hour or less.
