Without doubt, the age of information communications is upon 11s. The rapid
pace of technological advancement in digital data communications can be wit-
nessed in a multitude of applications in our day-to-day existence. In recent
years, the widespread proliferation of wireless digital cornmunications hass been
readily accepted by the general population worldwide; this is nearly unpa~rallcled
in few other human scientific achievements in terms of scope and speed of devel-
opment.
This book is a result of the recent rapid advances in two related technologies: com-
munications and computers. Over the past few decades, communication systems
have increased in complexity to the point where system design and performance
analysis can no longer be conducted without a significant level of computer sup-
port. Many of the communication systems of fifty years ago were either power or
noise limited. A significant degrading effect in many of these systems was thermal
noise, which was modeled using the additive Gaussian noise channel.
Wireless communications and networking technology are advancing at a very rapid
pace. Newer technologies and standards are evolving to serve the ever-increasing num-
ber of users demanding different types of mobile applications and services. Research
and development activities on wireless technology constitute one of the most impor-
tant segments of research and development in the telecommunications area today.
Driven by the desire to boost the quality of service of wireless systems closer to that afforded
by wireline systems, space-time processing for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)
wireless communications research has drawn remarkable interest in recent years. Excit-
ing theoretical advances, complemented by rapid transition of research results to industry
products and services, have created a vibrant and growing area that is already established
by all counts. This offers a good opportunity to reflect on key developments in the area
during the past decade and also outline emerging trends.
rapid progress in information and communications technology (ICT) induces
improved and new telecommunications services and contributes greatly to society
in general and to vendors and network and service providers. In addition to existing
services such as telephony or leased line services, spread of the Internet, the Internet
Protocol (IP) phone, and new communications services like IPTV are making great
progress with the development of digital subscriber lines (DSL) and high - speed
communications technologies like fi ber to the home (FTTH).
Public telephone operators and new independent wireless operators through-
out the world are deploying wireless access in an effort to drastically reduce
delivery costs in the most expensive part of the network?the local loop.
Available radio technology enables both existing and new entrants to access
subscribers in a rapid manner and deliver their basic telephony products and
broadband-enhanced services.
The information age is exploding around us,
giving us access to dizzying amounts of data the instant it becomes available.
Smart phones and tablets provide an untethered experience that offers stream-
ing video, audio, and other media formats to just about any place on the planet.
Even people who are not “computer literate” use Facebook to catch up with
friends and family, use Google to research a new restaurant choice and print
directions to get there, or Tweet their reactions once they have sampled the
fare. The budding Internet-of-things will only catalyze this data eruption.
The infrastructure supporting these services is also growing exponentially,
and the technology that facilitates this rapid growth is virtualization.
During the past three decades, the world has seen signifi cant changes in the telecom-
munications industry. There has been rapid growth in wireless communications, as
seen by large expansion in mobile systems. Wireless communications have moved
from fi rst-generation (1G) systems primarily focused on voice communications to
third-generation (3G) systems dealing with Internet connectivity and multi-media
applications. The fourth-generation (4G) systems will be designed to connect wire-
less personal area networks (WPANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs) and
wireless wide-area networks (WWANs).
Wireless communications, together with its applications and underlying technologies, is
among today’s most active areas of technology development. The very rapid pace of im-
provements in both custom and programmable integrated circuits for signal processing ap-
plications has led to the justfiable view of advanced signal processing as a key enabler of the
aggressively escalating capacity demands of emerging wireless systems. Consequently, there
has been a tremendous and very widespread effort on the part of the research community
to develop novel signal processing techniques that can fulfill this promise.
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) phenomena have been known to mankind since the Greek
Empire when Thales of Miletus, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, noticed the attraction of
strands of hay to amber, leading to the coining of the word ‘‘electron.’’ In the 17th century,
Gilbert and Cabeo addressed the attractive and repulsive nature of electricity. In the 18th
century, a rapid increase of interest occurred for scientists in the understanding of electrical
physics—Gray, du Fay, Nollet, Musschenbroeck, Franklin, Watson, Aepinus, Canton,
