The new digital radio system DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting, nowadays often called
Digital Radio) is a very innovative and UniveRSal multimedia broadcast system which will
replace the existing AM and FM audio broadcast services in many parts of the world in
the future. It was developed in the 1990s by the Eureka 147/DAB project. DAB is very
well suited for mobile reception and provides very high robustness against multipath
reception. It allows use of single frequency networks (SFNs) for high frequency
efficiency.
The next-generation wireless broadband technology is changing the way
we work, live, learn, and communicate through effective use of state-
of-the-art mobile broadband technology. The packet-data-based revolu-
tion started around 2000 with the introduction of 1x Evolved Data Only
(1xEV-DO) and 1x Evolved Data Voice (1xEV-DV) in 3GPP2 and High
Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) in 3GPP. The wireless broad-
band fourth-generation technology (4G) is an evolution of the packet-
based 3G system and provides a comprehensive evolution of the
UniveRSal Mobile Telecommunications System specifications so as to
remain competitive with other broadband systems such as 802.16e
(WiMAX)
Cellular communications is one of the fastest growing and most challenging telecom-
munication applications ever. Today, it represents a large and continuously increasing
percentage of all new telephone subscribers around the world. In the long term,
cellular digital technology may become the UniveRSal way of communication.
Recent decades have shown a tremendous expansion of the Internet. The number of
connected terminals has increased by orders of magnitude, traffic has grown exponen-
tially, coverage has become ubiquitous and worldwide, and today’s sophisticated Web
2.0 applications are increasingly providing services which hitherto have been the realm
of telecommunications, such as Skype and video conferencing. This has even led to the
thought that access to the Internet might one day be a UniveRSal right of every citizen.
This evolution will accelerate in the coming decades.
This book is concerned with integrated circuits and systems for wireless and
mobile communications. Circuit techniques and implementation of reconfigurable
low-voltage and low-power single-chip CMOS transceivers for multiband and multi-
mode UniveRSal wireless communications are the focus of the book. Applications
encompass both long-range mobile cellular communications (GSM and UMTS)
and short-range wireless LANs (IEEE802.11 and Bluetooth). Recent advances in
research into transceiver architecture, RF frontend, analogue baseband, RF CAD
and automatic testing are reported.
This book paves the path toward fourth generation (4G) mobile communica-
tion by introducing mobility in heterogeneous IP networks with both third
generation (3G) and wireless local area networks (WLANs), which is seen as
one of the central issues in the becoming 4G of telecommunications networks
and systems. This book presents a thorough overview of 3G networks and
standards and discusses interworking and handover mechanisms between
WLANs and the UniveRSal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS).
This is a practical book, to be sure, but it is also a book about hope and posi-
tive change. I am quite sincere. The delivery of electricity is deeply rooted
in the principle of UniveRSal access; when clean, reliable energy is available it
contributes to poverty alleviation, improved social conditions, and enhanced
economic development. In the developed world, we know this to be true. The
digital fabric of our lives is a testimony to the importance of energy security.
Across the globe, we have seen the vital contributions that electrification has
brought to the development of economies and an enhanced quality of life.
Nonetheless, this supreme engineering achievement has languished, and we are
deeply challenged.
The next avatar of the Internet will revolutionize our world. In time, it will
provide us a UniveRSal remote control, enabling us to monitor and control
physical objects located anywhere on the planet, using a smart phone. It will
make the universe around us programmable, allowing us to script the behav-
ior of physical objects with electronic commands. This book is about such
an emerging new version of the Internet.
