Wireless Multimedia Communications

Book excerpt: This book is a comprehensive guide to understanding the design of wireless multimedia communications systems. Covering mobile video, voice, and data communications, it provides both professionals and students with an introduction to the problems and solutions of communicating multimedia traffic at high data rates over a radio channel for short distances. Wireless Multimedia Communications begins with an examination of the physical layer of the Open Systems Interface (OSI) stack, modeling the radio channel impairments, including path loss and multipath distortion. The book addresses infrared and satellite wireless channels and the digital modulation approaches used to convey information over these channels. It compares possible approaches to transmitting multimedia traffic, including equalization, multicarrier modulation, and spread spectrum. The book also presents an in-depth discussion of error control, with a look at the emerging and promising field of turbo coding. At the data link layer, the book presents an evaluation of Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols-such as Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (