ETH Zurich : Computer Science : Pervasive Computing : Distributed Systems : Education : MC SS2001

Fachseminar Mobile Computing SS2001:

Technologies and standards in wireless communication

Markus Hübscher

Abstract

Recently there has been a growing interest in wireless communication in small devices. Although Infrared is already widely implemented in small low-cost devices, there is rapid movement towards wireless communication in the Giga Hertz spectrum, which allows for new concepts such as "hidden computing".

The presentation will start by introducing various standards that are going to play an important role in wireless communication. We will first consider infrastructure networks. After explaining the general concepts, we will have a look at the 802.11 standard (with its extensions to 802.11b and 802.11a) and HIPERLAN2. These standards were mainly created for use as Wireless LANs.

Secondly, we will move on to ad hoc networks and take a closer look at Bluetooth and the recent 802.15 standard for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN). We will also see new wireless applications that are being implemented using Bluetooth.

In the third part of the presentation, we will focus on small devices. We will consider some of the issues related to the use of small devices in wireless networks, such as battery life, costs or scalability. We will reflect on these issues and evaluate how well the different standards are suited for the use in small devices and mobile computing.

Slides: [.pdf], schriftliche Ausarbeitung: [.pdf]