From current to future wireless networks

Wireless networking opens up the capabilities of portable devices. Wireless networks are diverse, but the most popular wireless network standards belong to either a group of public land mobile networks or the IEEE 802 family. While the core network needs to converge, the access networks will continue to be diverse. The devices need to be mobile, low-cost, and capable of connecting to different networks using multiple network interfaces. Going forward to achieve higher data throughput and more efficient spectrum use, more technologies are put into the device adding to higher complexity. It helps to relieve the device by leaving to the network as much functions as possible. A sample of interesting wireless technologies are discussed.