Introduction
wireless Voice-over-IP). It's here today as a proprietary offering from
many vendors and convergence with the global cellular network is right
around the corner. You've got to be on top of the 802.11 engineering
issues to be on top of wireless voice.
In the retail and commercial sector, Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) is emerging as an alternative to bar code scanning.
Management of the inventory supply chain from manufacture, through
shipping, through merchandising, to ultimate product end-of-life can be
tracked with tiny RFID "tags". A little bit of web searching on "RFID"
will reveal just how pervasive this new technology is going to be.
Where is 802.11 in all this? It's the 802.11 WLAN that's going to
connect the hand-held RFID scanners and "smart shelves" back to the
store database. We're talking about every retail store that uses bar code
scanning today – it’s going to be RFID right around the corner. You've
got to be on top of the 802.11 engineering issues to be on top of RFID.
There are very few times in the course of human history when it's been
evident that a new technology would dramatically change the way
society functions. What if you knew where the automotive industry
was heading when Carl Benz championed the internal combustion
engine in his 3-wheeled car in 1885. What if you could have foreseen
the aviation industry when the Wright's flew at Kitty Hawk? How
about a crystal ball on the computer industry in the 1960's or 1970's?
What if you could have foreseen the Internet? Well, you're right there
again, and this time the technology falls under the umbrella of wireless
convergence: data, voice, video - and today they all revolve around
802.11 WLAN technology. You've got to be on top of the 802.11
engineering issues to be on top in technology in the coming years.
Between the covers of this book you'll find a wealth of information that
will be a basis for your understanding of wireless data networking,
802.11 protocol analysis, and WLAN management. You may find, as I
have often discovered, that "the more you know, the more you know
that you don't know", and, at the end of the day, have fun learning new
things and never stop challenging yourself.
-Joseph Bardwell
Chief Scientist and President of Connect802 Corporation
