This book concerns two major topics, smart antenna systems and wireless local-area-networks (LANs). For smart antenna systems, it d- cusses the mechanics behind a smart antenna system, the setup of a smart antenna experimental testbed, and experimental and computer simulation results of various issues relating to smart antenna systems. For wireless LAN systems, it discusses the IEEE 802.11 worldwide wi- less LAN standard, the operation of a wireless LAN system, and some of the technical considerations that must be overcome by a wireless LAN system designer. These two topics are combined in the discussion of the Smart Wireless LAN (SWL) system, which was designed to achieve the benefits which smart antenna systems can provide for wireless LAN systems while still remaining compatible with the 802.11 wireless LAN standard. The design of SWL calls for the replacement of the conv- tional wireless LAN base station (which are called access points in the 802.11 documentation) with an SWL base station, while leaving the - dividual terminal operation as unchanged as possible.
