According to the authors, this book is aimed at three different types of users: telecommunications managers, practicing communications engineers, and upper-level undergraduate and graduate students. The danger with this type of multipurpose book is that it may fail to please all parties. The authors seem to be cognizant of this danger and recommend different sets of chapters to different audiences. They would have done themselves a favor to address either students or practicing engineers. Their attempt to kill three birds with one stone is only a lukewarm success.

It is impossible to practice the telecommunications trade without an understanding of who is doing what, and where and why they are doing it. The first two chapters address this by providing a brisk overview of wireless and cellular technologies and standards (the standards we follow in the US are different from those of Europe and Japan), and the authors do a decent job of chasing this moving target through a thick jungle of acronyms.

The gist of the 445-page book, which is organized into 15 chapters and four short appendices, becomes apparent in chapter 3, “Access Technologies.” From here onward, the authors implicitly assume that the reader has some background in probability and stochastic processes and in communications. They produce formulas, without derivation or citation, and apply these formulas to make their points. This strategy is fine when addressing practicing engineers, but it may not be effective for even the most advanced  undergraduates. 

Chapter 4, “Fundamentals of Radio Communications,” is followed by “Fundamentals of Cellular Communications,” “Digital Modulation Techniques,” “Antennas, Diversity and Link Analysis,” “North American Cellular and PCS Systems,” “European and Japanese Cellular Systems and North American PCS 1900,” “Security and Privacy in Wireless Systems,” “Network Management for PCS and Cellular Systems,” “Interworking of Wireless Systems,” “Design of a Wireless System: A Case Study,” “Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) Network,” and “Packet Radio Systems.”

Given this range of topics and the manner in which the material is treated, this book is definitely more suitable for managers and practicing engineers than for students. Should one decide to use it as a classroom textbook, there are exercises at the ends of most chapters. There are also plenty of worked examples for those interested in self-study.