Microwave Journal
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The Book End

October 1, 1998

The Book End

Quasioptical Systems

Paul F. Goldsmith
IEEE Press
412 pages; $99.95

There has been considerable growth in the application of quasioptics to system design at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths that has resulted in significant use of quasioptics in radar, remote sensing and materials measurement systems. Thus, the use of formerly exotic quasioptical propagation has broadened considerably and this trend seems likely to continue. The goals of this book are to introduce quasioptical propagation to the nonspecialist and present basic guidelines for the design of quasioptical components and systems.

Chapter 1 presents a brief historical overview of quasioptical techniques starting with a practical definition of quasioptics. Chapter 2 describes Gaussian beam propagation, providing a derivation of Gaussian beam formulas, and Chapter 3 deals with Gaussian beam transformation.

Chapter 4 describes Gaussian beam coupling, emphasizing the azimuthally symmetric fundamental-mode Gaussian beam, which is prevalent in actual system design. Chapter 5 presents practical aspects of quasioptical focusing elements and describes a process by which selection of a focusing element type for a particular application can be optimized. Gaussian beams and antenna feed systems are detailed in Chapter 6. Antenna efficiency and aperture illumination are also covered and radiation patterns are described.

Chapter 7 describes Gaussian beam coupling to radiating elements. The general use of Gaussian beam-mode expansion terms is covered and much attention is focused on extracting the parameters of the fundamental mode that best represents the field distribution for a variety of feed elements. Frequency-independent quasioptical components are described in Chapter 8, and Chapter 9 covers quasioptical, frequency-selective components. Chapter 10 provides information on active devices that are basically quasioptical. Finally, Chapter 11 explains the principles of quasioptical system design with supporting examples. A range of quasioptical system applications are discussed.

This book combines a good theoretical introduction to Gaussian beams and quasioptical propagation with practical applications and system design information. It is an excellent text for antenna engineers, system designers, communications and radar systems engineers, and researchers.

To order this book, contact:
Inspec Dept., IEEE Operation Center,
P.O. Box 1331, Piscataway, NJ
08855-1331
(908) 562-5553.

GSM System Engineering

Asha Mehrotra
Artech House Inc.
450 pages; $75, £59

Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) was developed as the next-generation digital cellular mobile communication system in Europe. GSM is the digital mobile telephony standard specified by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute and provides a common standard that permits cellular subscribers to use their mobile telephones all over Europe. This book describes the essential elements of the GSM system as well as its design and operation.

The book begins with a general introduction to GSM, providing a background, objectives and operational requirements. Chapter 2 describes the GSM architecture and provides the fundamental requirements for mobile stations and the base station system. Chapter 3 provides a detailed discussion of system time and frequency axis representation. The functions and characteristics of physical and logical channels are discussed and the reasons for GSM system flexibility are described. Chapter 4 is devoted to mobility management issues and provides timing diagrams for different types of calls. Chapter 5 describes various security aspects.

Chapter 6 discusses the system's technical characteristics, including speech coding, modulation and error encoding. Chapter 7 details subscription management, billing and accounting as well as some important aspects of network maintenance. Chapter 8 deals with GSM protocols based on the International Standards Organization and Signaling System 7 standards. Chapter 9 elaborates on system architecture and frequency and time issues, and discusses subsystem configuration and component architectures. Chapter 10 summarizes the telecommunications projects that are directly linked to present microcellular systems and discusses future trends. Chapter 11 details the potential shortfalls of existing PCSs and provides some solutions to these problems.

This book is intended for cellular communications engineers who work with GSM or closely related TDMA-based systems. Much of the book deals with system operational issues. However, it also offers helpful information to hardware engineers.

To order this book, contact:
Artech House Inc.,
685 Canton St.,
Norwood, MA
02062 (781)
769-9750, ext. 4002; or

Portland House,
Stag Place, London
SW1E 5XA, UK
+44 (0) 171 973 8077.