1.3 Building Blocks of Digital Wireless

Wireless Networking Cont . . .

The Challenge of Wireless:

Most existing network protocols were designed for optical fiber-based nets. These networks have extremely high link reliabilities (roughly 1 error in 10^9 bits), but can drop packets when they become congested. On the other hand, wireless channels are characterized by low link reliability (on the order of 1 error in 10^3 bits). Thus the traditional error- and flow-control mechanisms designed for optical links (such as those used in TCP/IP) can lead to poor performance in wireless networking. Thus the challenge of wireless connectivity is leading to intense efforts to improve the reliability of wireless communication systems, and to develop higher-level protocols that are optimum for wireless networks.