Implementing 802.11 with Microcontrollers: Wireless Networking for Embedded Systems Designers

Wireless networking is poised to have a massive impact on communications, and the 802.11 standard is to wireless networking what Ethernet is to wired networking. There are already over 50 million devices using the dominant IEEE 802.11 (essentially wireless Ethernet) standard, with astronomical growth predicted over the next 10 years. New applications are emerging every day, with wireless capability being embedded in everything from electric meters to hospital patient tracking systems to security devices.

This practical reference guides readers through the wireless technology forest, giving them the knowledge, the hardware and the software necessary to design a wireless embedded device rapidly, inexpensively, and effectively. Using off-the-shelf microcontrollers from Microchip and Atmel and the popular 802.11 modules from DPAC Technology, the author provides step-by-step instructions for designing the hardware and firmware for a fully operational wireless networking device. The book gives a thorough introduction to 802.11 technology and puts it into perspective against the other wireless standard options. Just enough theory and mathematics is provided to give the depth of understanding needed for practical design work. The book thoroughly covers: DPAC Module introduction and theory Laptop wireless Ethernet card introduction and theory Implementing the DPAC module in an embedded environment Introduction to PCMCIA-to-microcontroller interfacing Implementing the laptop wireless Ethernet card in an embedded environment In addition, the book includes a CDROM containing all of the code, schematics and programs necessary to implement embedded 802.11 wireless networking.

Wireless design using microcontrollers requires specialized knowledge that many embedded designers don't have. Although a lot of information does exist on creating the sort of wireless embedded devices covered in this book, it takes a tremendous amount of time to pull it together from various manufacturer's websites, databooks, and complex standards documents. This book assembles the needed information to design an embedded device incorporating 802.11 wireless networking capability and provides step by step detailed design examples, for proven working designs based on familiar microcontrollers (instead of much more expensive and complex predesigned boards that are commonly used using a $5 microcontroller vs. a $200 board means a lot to a product's bottom line!).