About the Author Carl R. Nassar, Ph.D., is an engineering professor at Colorado State University, teaching telecommu- nications in his trademark entertaining style. He is also the director of the RAWCom (Research in Advanced Wireless Communications) Laboratory, where he and his graduate students carry out research to advance the art and science of wireless telecommunications. In addition, he is the founder of the Miracle Center, an organization fostering personal growth for individuals and corporations. Since Carl's undergraduate and graduate school days at McGill University, he has dreamed of creating a plain-English engineering text with "personality." This book is that dream realized. To contact the author, please write or e-mail him at Carl R. Nassar, Ph.D. Department of ECE Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523-1373 carln@engr.colostate.edu Foreword I first met the author of this book, Professor Carl Nassar, after he presented a paper at a conference on advanced radio technology. Pro- fessor Nassar's presentation that day was particularly informative and his enthusiasm for the subject matter was evident. He seemed especially gifted in terms of his ability to explain complex concepts in a clear way that appealed to my intuition. Some time later, his editor asked me if I would be interested in reviewing a few chapters of this book and preparing a short preface. I agreed to do SO because, in part, I was curious whether or not his acces- sible presentation style carried over into his writing. I was not disappointed. As you will soon see as you browse through these pages, Professor Nassar does have an uncanny ability to demystify the complexities of telecommunications systems engineering. He does SO by first providing for an intuitive understanding of the subject at hand and then, building on that sound foundation, delving into the associated mathematical descriptions. I am partial to such an approach for at least two reasons. First, it has been my experience that engineers who combine a strong intuiti