One might assume that reading a book about the latest IEEE wireless standard would be about as fun as a trip to the dentist. Happily, Dr. Gilb's work is an easy read with a lot of graphics and sidebar notes. The aim of this book is to help individuals who are implementing devices that comply with the IEEE 802.15.3 standard.

The book includes examples that show how the IEEE 802.15.3 standard can be used to develop low-cost, high-data-rate, ad-hoc wireless connections. This specification targets many consumer multimedia applications. To name a few, they include: wireless keyboards and printers, personal video and digital cameras, audio players, headphones, games, and home-theater systems.

The book's nine chapters address four main elements of the standard: its history, applications, implementation, and justification. Several chapters will be of particular interest to design engineers. For example, Chapters 4, 5, and 6 cover the operation of the medium-access-control (MAC) -layer protocols.

In addition, several message-sequence charts are included. They illustrate the various operations of the protocol. Chapter 7 describes the standard's physical-layer (PHY) characteristics. It includes a useful survey of applicable radio architectures. Last but not least, Chapter 9 examines the ever-important topic of co-existence.

Wireless Multimedia: A Guide to the IEEE 802.15.3 Standard by Dr. James P.K. Gilb is available from IEEE Press/Standards Information Network for $49.95. The ISBN number is 0-7381-3668-9.