The Telecommunications Handbook: Engineering Guidelines for Fixed, Mobile and Satellite Systems

Preface

The evolution of mobile telecommunications is breathtaking. It is also an excellent indicator of technical advances in general – as computers and processors evolve, there is impact on telecommunications solutions with an ever-growing need for capacity and data rates. Knowing that mobile communications were still only utilized by a small group of privileged people back in the 1980s, it is fascinating to realize the current speed of the development of telecommunications networks and devices both technically as well as for business opportunities. It is actually hard to find any other business area which has changed the lifestyle of so many in such a short time period. Presently, the majority of global population has mobile phone whilst the utilization of Internet is growing exponentially – all this only within a couple of decades! Who would want to return any more to the era prior to emails and mobile phones?

The speed of this evolution has also generated challenges. Systems are becoming more and more complicated, and it is very hard to establish a complete picture of telecommunications technologies and systems achievement. There are many new technology areas that need to be learned and taken into account in realistic network deployments, such as security and advanced network planning methods. Furthermore, there is no longer a single concept of fixed and once-and-for-all learning of some areas of telecommunications as new solutions require constant upgrading of knowledge. ...