Chapter 6. Wireless Networks and Mobile IP

In Chapter 4, we reviewed the fundamentals of wireless communication media at the link layer. In this chapter, we explore the concept of wireless networks. Wireless networks are designed for all home and business networking applications and are used in both LANs and WANs. The major topics of the chapter are

• Infrastructure of wireless networks

• Wireless LANs

• Protocol layers of wireless LANs

• Cellular networks

• Mobile IP

• Wireless mesh networks (WMNs)

We start with an overview of wireless communication systems at all levels, from satellite to LANs. We review the protocols and topologies of LANs in the wireless environment, as well as the mobility issue in wireless networks. We then focus on cellular networks, one of the main backbones of our wireless networking infrastructure. At the end of the chapter, we introduce mobile IP and wireless mesh networks , including WiFi and WiMAX technologies.