Book excerpt: Here's a unique resource that provides you with an up-to-date understanding of how to plan, analyze, and design next-generation broadband wireless networks. This comprehensive book includes all the necessary background information needed to fully understand the material and places emphasis on practical engineering know-how that can be readily applied to designing OFDM-based systems. You find detailed discussions on everything from the physical and media access control layers, to QoS and security functions. Rather than just offering simple explanations of standards, this invaluable book takes a close look at live, real-world systems, explaining how the technical features work and why they were adopted. Moreover, the author includes his own design frameworks and rules that have been developed through his own extensive research and experience. This comprehensive reference is supported with over 170 illustrations and more than 250 equations.