Explore the present and future trends of WLANs and WPANs with this new, forwarding looking resource. You discover the path that these infrastructures are following from a perspective of synergies with 3G systems, and how they will pave the way for future 4G systems. The book presents a thorough overview of 3G networks and standards, and discusses interworking and handover mechanisms between WLANs and UMTS. You learn what performance can be expected from WLANs and WPANs when they support the TCP/IP stack. Several critical issues are examined in depth, including IP routing and mobility, , PHY and MAC layers for the main WLAN specifications, the TCP-UDP/IP protocol stack, and performance of TCP/IP over IEEE 802.11b.