| Cross-layer design seeks to enhance the capacity of wireless networks significantly through the joint optimization of multiple layers in the network, primarily the physical (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) layers. Although there are advantages of such design in wireline networks as well, this approach is particularly advantageous for wireless networks due to the properties (such as mobility and interference) that strongly affect performance and design of higher layer protocols. This unique monograph is concerned with the issue of cross-layer design in wireless networks, and more particularly with the impact of node-level multiuser detection on such design. It provides an introduction to this vibrant and active research area insufficiently covered in existing literature, presenting some of the principal methods developed and results obtained to date. Accompanied by numerous illustrations, the text is an excellent reference for engineers, researchers and students working in communication networks.
Wireless networking is undergoing a transformation from what has been primarily a medium for supporting voice traffic between telephones, into what is increasingly becoming a medium for supporting traffic among a variety of digital devices transmitting media of many types (voice, data, images, video. etc.) Wireline networking underwent a similar transformation in the 1990s, which led to an enormous build-up in the capacity of such networks, primarily through the addition of new optical fiber, switches and other infrastructure. Creating a similar build-up in the capacity of wireless networks presents many challenges, including notably the scarcity of two of the principal resources for providing high capacity in wireless networks, namely power and bandwidth. Moreover, the physical nature of wireless communication channels themselves, involving such features as mobility, interference, and fading, adds to the challenge of providing high-quality multimedia communications to large groups of users. |
