Wireless Communications - Come in Dick Tracy! Copyright CAUSE 1994. This paper was presented at the 1993 CAUSE Annual Conference held in San Diego, California, December 7-10, and is part of the conference proceedings published by CAUSE. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, that the CAUSE copyright notice and the title and authors of the publication and its date appear, and that notice is given that copying is by permission of CAUSE, the association for managing and using information technology in higher education. To copy or disseminate otherwise, or to republish in any form, requires written permission from CAUSE. For further information: CAUSE, 4840 Pearl East Circle, Suite 302E, Boulder, CO 80301; 303449-4430; e-mail info@cause.colorado.edu CAUSE93: Wireless Communications - Come in Dick Tracy! - University of Toronto Page: 1 Wireless Communications - Come in Dick Tracy! Frank H.P. Pearce Computing and Communications University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 1A1 ABSTRACT Articles on wireless communications have hit the press in a big way with reports of a fabulous future enabling people to communicate with anyone, anywhere, anytime using any media. Have all our wiring problems now been solved? Do we no longer need to worry about having to install that "expensive" fibre-optics and copper infrastructure? Is the Dick Tracy wrist-watch around the corner? The University of Toronto's Computing and Communications (UTCC) Division has been monitoring the development of wireless technologies and services over the last two years to determine how these recent developments relate to the University's campus network plan. The physical infrastructure that was chosen to support the long-term goal of integrating voice, data, image, and video on our campus network was, not surprisingly in 1991, identified to be a fibre-optic and copper-based wiring system. In 1993 is this still the right choice? This paper will introduce the novice to the wireless "lingo", describe some of the various types of wireless communications technologies and services, discuss issues related to the use of wireless, identify opportunities for the deployment of wireless technologies in an institutional setting, and explain what we chose to do about wireless and why. Additionally, predictions for future services based on wireless technologies will be made. 1. Introduction The University of Toronto's Computing and Communications (UTCC) Division has been monitoring the development of wireless technologies and services over the last two years to determine how these recent developments relate to the University's campus network plan. The physical infrastructure that was chosen to support the long-term goal of integrating voice, data, image, and video on our campus network was, not surprisingly in 1991, identified to be a fibre-optic and copper-based wiring system. In 1993 is this still the right choice? This paper will introduce the novice to the wireless "lingo", describe some of the various types of wireless communications technologies and services, discuss issues related to the use of wireless, identify opportunities for the deployment of wireless technologies in an institutional setting, and explain what we chose to do about wireless and why. Additionally, predictions for future services based on wireless technologies will be made. 2. Wireless "Lingo" The following basic terms are explained for reference purposes. Spectrum Allocation: Refers to the allocation of radio-frequencies to provide specific wireless services. For example in Canada, the new cordless digital telephone technology will operate in the 944 to 952 MHz frequency range. Infrared: Infrared enables information to be transmitted through the air using very high frequencies (3 x 10 power 14 Hz). Many VCR and TV remote controls use this technology. Infrared signals behave like visible light and the signals can not penetrate solid objects. Line of site must be maintained in order for communications to take place effectively. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not regulate infrared signals. Spread Spectrum: Spread spectrum enables information to be transmitted through the air using radio frequencies. The information is spread over many frequencies making the message difficult to jam, and difficult to intercept and decode. Products using spread spectrum do not need to be licensed by the FCC although their use is regulated to prevent interference problems. Narrowband Microwave: Narrowband microwave is another way in which information is transmitted over the air using radio frequencies. Narrowband microwave products must be licensed by the FCC. Digital Cordless Telephone (DCT): This is a specification of a personal communications device, the telephone, for use in second generation systems. Some of the air interface standards that are being used or considered for various implementations of DCT are DECT (Digital European Cordless Telephone), CT-2 (cordless telephone, second generation), and CT-3 (cordless telephone, third generation). Channel Access Standards: This refers to the method in which a wireless device accesses the shared wireless communications channel. Some of the standards that are being used or considered are FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). Mobility: There may be some confusion over this term. People use "mobile" in different ways. A system may provide mobility in that a person can communicate with this system from various locations (e.g., home, work, shopping mall, etc.). A system may also provide mobility by allowing a person to communicate with this system while literally in motion. The speed at which a person is in movement greatly affects the ability of a given wireless technology to support reliable communications. For example, cellular telephone technology was designed to provide service to a user while traveling at high speeds in a vehicle. Other wireless services may not provide this capability. Personal Communications System (PCS): PCS is a concept that has many definitions. A reasonable definition is as follows: Definition: A personal communications system is one which provides universal accessibility to a wide range of voice, messaging, and geographic positioning services, to individuals at home, work, remote locations, or in-transit on a premise [building], local, national, and international basis1. Perhaps hidden in this definition is the supplementary concept that a user is assigned a unique, personal identifier that may be used to reach the user irrespective of the user's location. Note that this definition does not refer to how a PCS system is implemented. In particular, it does not mention whether wired or wireless technologies would be part of the system. However, it is clear that wireless technologies have to be part of the system in order to provide the mobile capability for the user. It may be less obvious that wired technologies will still be a big part of providing the PCS infrastructure. 3. What are Some of the Wireless Technologies and Services? There are a significant number of wireless technologies and services available today. Satellite, cellular, and paging services are available from carriers, although, perhaps not at the "right cost". Private facilities may be constructed using satellite, microwave, and wireless versions of PABX (Private Automatic Branch eXchange), point-to- point modems and LAN (Local Area Network) interfaces. The variety and quantity of carrier services and products (existing or proposed) are greater in the U.S. and Europe than in Canada. Some of the products that have been developed in the U.S. and Europe may not be usable in Canada, or vice-versa, because they operate in an unsuitable section of the available frequency spectrum. The U.S. and Europe are investing considerable amounts of money and time into wireless R&D, standards, and lobbying (spectrum, licensing) efforts. The Canadian efforts are modest by comparison. The following existing technologies and services have potential relevance to our University. Satellite: Many communication services that we use everyday, including cable television and the telephone system, make extensive use of satellite technologies. The use of satellite technologies for private (non-carrier) applications is becoming more pervasive. Examples can be found in the trucking industry (messaging and dispatch), the financial sector (bank branch office connectivity), and education (reception and transmission of educational programs). Satellite technology has been continuously improved over the years to deal with system limitations, overcrowding of orbiting space, the cost factor, etc. This has resulted in a multitude of services and a diversity of hardware. For example, there are two types of satellite dishes in common use (C-band, Ku-band) and a third type is in the experimental stage (Ka-band). All of these use different segments of the frequency spectrum and have different physical characteristics such as the size of the dish and the power level for transmission. Satellites now come in many flavours such as LEO (Low Earth Orbiting), VLEO (Very Low Earth Orbiting), and GEO (Geosynchronous Earth Orbiting). Each variation takes advantage of a particular design to either improve or make possible the delivery of a particular service or set of services. As an example, in the U.S. there is a proposal for a new satellite system which will make use of the VLEO technology. This technology minimizes the delays in round-trip earth-station to satellite transmissions and will enhance mobile communications. Microwave: Microwave has long been used, primarily by carriers for long- distance applications. The clutter of the spectrum, wide-spread availability of satellite bandwidth, interference from C-band satellites, and the reliability of optical fibre has slowed the deployment of this technology for traditional applications. A niche market still exists for the local trunking of cellular voice traffic, but the main new applications that have been developed are for short-hop LAN traffic and "private" high-bandwidth (DS1, DS3) communications in intercampus situations. Cellular: Cellular telephone services have been around for some time and are becoming more affordable. There are plans to upgrade the existing cellular networks from analogue to digital technology to improve the service quality and capacity. DCT may encroach on the market for cellular and other personal wireless services. Only truly mobile users will need cellular so that they may communicate with the network while in motion. Paging: Paging systems and its variations (e.g., alphanumeric dispatch applications) have seen tremendous growth over recent years as these services have become cheaper and cheaper to use. However, the one-way communications restriction of paging services and the decreasing costs of cellular services will have considerable impact on this market. DCT systems may also provide substantial added function compared to paging systems at a cost that may shrink the paging market. Private Automatic Branch eXchange (PABX): The potential business applications of cordless telephones were one of the early drivers for the development of wireless voice communications. Wireless PABX enables the user to roam throughout the business site while retaining the features of the PABX (unlike cellular). Additionally, wireless PABX can provide cost-effective, quick, and convenient access for users within new or existing premises that have insufficient wired facilities. Available wireless PABX products are based on proprietary protocols. Some manufacturers are developing products that will support one or more of the various standards (e.g., DECT, CT-2, CT-3) that have been adopted by various interested parties around the world (e.g., Canadian and Swedish governments, European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)). LANs: There are a small number of wireless products on the market today that may be used to construct local area networks or pieces thereof. The role that the wireless component takes on in the LAN environment is varied and may differ by manufacturer. A network concentrator, a PC interface, or a LAN modem may all be replaced with wireless "equivalents". The capabilities of these wireless components and the vendor's implementation vary. A key element that should be highlighted is the method used for the transmission. Spread spectrum, narrowband microwave, and infrared are the three commonly used systems. Each system has different operating parameters such as the frequencies used for transmission, the maximum coverage, whether line of sight is required, and whether a license is required. 4. Wireless Issues The are many technical and non-technical issues associated with wireless communications technologies. Some of the more salient issues are addressed below. Health Considerations: The primary metric used to measure the health risk of exposure to radiating energy such as is emitted from a wireless transmitter or a video display is based on the ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) rating of the radiating device. None of the foreseeable modulation schemes for wireless technologies use ELF modulation, rendering the current methods of assessing health risks useless for wireless devices. The health issue is very contentious - vendors will need to convince users that their health is not at risk when using wireless devices. In particular, significant research into long-term exposure to low-power, high-frequency radiation needs to be done. Security/Integrity: The jury is still out on this one. Vendors like to believe that their systems are secure. Users like to prove them wrong. Certainly for some types of wireless systems the security is very weak or non-existent. Other systems are much more difficult to "break" due to the difficulty of interpreting or capturing the wireless signal rather than the provision of any intentional security scheme. However, a few systems do claim to provide a "secure" channel intentionally. Unfortunately, one of them, the digital cellular standard IS-54, has already proven to be readily defeatable. Wireless communications must be secure from the standpoint of eavesdropping and not allow any alteration of the content of the "call". Additionally, the communications signaling and "call" setup must be protected to avoid fraud and abuse. All this must be done without adding features and capabilities that frustrate the rights of the law enforcement and protection agencies. This has already become a big issue with the FBI in the U.S. vis-a-vis the upgrade of telco central office equipment to support advanced services such as ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). With this new central office equipment it is much more difficult for the FBI to wire-tap a conversation! The integrity of a wireless communications session may be affected from outside sources (e.g., radio frequency) whether the interference is intended or not. Furthermore, wireless systems can be influenced by multipath effects, "dead" zones, etc. that may ultimately affect their deployment in some areas. For example, leaded or gold plated glass in buildings could make wireless systems unreliable. Privacy and Etiquette: The PCS concept touts the ability to communicate with "anyone, anytime, anyplace". While this is an interesting concept it may not always be appropriate. Some people view the beeping of pagers and cellular phones in meetings and in public spaces as an annoyance. User perceptions of privacy and etiquette issues may even be a limiting factor in the market success of some wireless technologies. A parallel in the wired world may be made with one of the new features offered on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) in the Toronto area. "Call Display", which provides the telephone number of the calling party to a called party, has met with some very negative consumer reaction. The effectiveness of this feature will be greatly reduced if significant numbers of the consumer base refuse to allow their telephone numbers to be transmitted on the network. Mobility: Distinguishing what is meant by the term mobility is extremely important in the design and expected use of a system. For example, while the CT-2Plus DCT standard allows for mobility, a system based on this standard will not allow a person to communicate with the system while traveling in a car at high speeds. Spectrum: The allocation of frequency spectrum for wireless technologies is one of the hottest issues. Spectrum is a limited resource. Most of the "currently useful" spectrum has already been allocated. To complicate matters, the assignment of spectrum to specific technologies and services varies from country to country. This will make it extremely difficult to coordinate global services, and in particular, a PCS system. The World Advisory Radio Council (WARC) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) are two major players dealing with spectrum allocation and other PCS-related issues, on a global basis. Contiguous spectrum is another concern. There have been some discussions in the U.S. to move certain technologies to a different area of the spectrum so that large chunks of contiguous spectrum for new wireless services may be allocated. This is extremely contentious as there are differences of opinion on who should pay the bill for such a massive reorganization. Techniques for the co-existence (same spectrum) of new and current technologies and services are being explored. Compression algorithms to make more effective use of spectrum are being studied. Licensing: Some wireless technologies need to be approved by a government agency to ensure that the wireless transmitting device will not interfere with existing systems. This can be a very time-consuming venture. For example, one major vendor of wireless LANs encourages potential customers to buy its products by handling the licensing arrangements on the customer's behalf at "no charge". The method of handing out licenses to carriers so that they may allocate spectrum and provide wireless services is also a hot topic. Spectrum is a scarce resource that is managed by government and awarded to interested parties in some "equitable" manner. There are undoubtedly disagreements with the level of fairness no matter what method is chosen. In the U.S. the hot debate before the Senate as to whether licenses should be awarded by lottery or by auction has concluded. It is expected that the FCC will auction radio frequencies in the 2GHz range for "emerging technologies" in late 1994. Standards: It took over two years for Canada to decide upon a standard for the radio interface of the portable unit of the DCT. And there were only two standards in the running! There are potentially many standards for the various areas of the provision of wireless services. As in other areas of IT, much work needs to be done to settle on some reasonable standards. Unlike other areas of IT, the diversity and number of players in wireless who have vested interests in standards is huge. And with the eventual goal of PCS, it may be argued that international issues and standards are more of a concern than any other single sector of information technology. Note that some efforts have been made to standardize LAN technology under the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 work group. Bandwidth: As with the wired world bandwidth is always a consideration in the delivery of applications. However, wireless speeds do not compete well with the speeds of their wired equivalents. Furthermore, what is possible to deliver via the allocated bandwidth and what is actually delivered as a service may differ greatly. It is generally believed that wireless networks will not have the bandwidth to deliver multimedia applications to a mobile user within the foreseeable future. Intelligent Networks: PCS will require an extremely intelligent network to support roaming capabilities and to integrate multiple networks. Such a network will require excellent network management and will be software-intensive. The complexity of the networking software of traditional LANs and the PSTN pale in comparison. Even in the wireless world of today there are examples of missing features that are provided in the wired world. To take one, some wireless ethernet hub products do not provide any network management capabilities (such as SNMP). There are also certain aspects of networks that prove to be problematic whether the communications takes place over wired or wireless technologies. For example, network addressing either in wired- based or wireless LANs is not a well structured area. Reliability/Quality: There is a lot of research being performed in this area. If wireless services are unreliable, or this is perceived to be the case, then the market will not grow enough for the services to be cost-effective. The quality of the wireless channel is also important and should at least meet, or exceed, the standards of the wired equivalent. The software that is required to keep track of mobile users such that the user may originate or receive a call from "anywhere" is estimated (in current proposals) to be 25% larger than the software proposed for the ill-fated U.S. Space Defense Initiative (SDI). A major reason why the SDI did not proceed into development was the near- universal agreement that the problems of creating, testing, and maintaining software of this magnitude was not solvable at the current state of technology2. Cost: While on the surface it may look like wireless communications are more costly than their wired equivalents, this is not always the case. Installing wiring in certain areas within a building or to a building may be nearly impossible or prohibitively expensive. Wireless solutions may also be cheaper when long term network costs are considered. For example, in environments where a structured wiring plant does not exist, it can be very expensive to relocate or install wires when people are moved within the workplace. On the other hand, the complexity of wireless systems may increase overall network maintenance costs. 5. Wireless and the University of Toronto - Institutional Opportunities Wireless technologies are being used at the University today but with one exception - satellite, these technologies only support the transport of voice or brief alphanumeric text messages. Some thoughts on, and the current status of wireless technologies that are of relevance to the University follow. Satellite: The University currently has a satellite reception and rebroadcast system which is used to support distance education and conference participation. Two receive dishes, one C-band, the other C- band and Ku-band, are mounted on the roof of a central building on campus. A transmitter is used to broadcast received satellite signals to various locations on campus which have a receive antenna. The demand for this service is increasing. A need to transmit signals to satellites for distribution to other locations has been identified. For example, the University has hosted several occasions where leased, uplink satellite facilities were used to distribute programs. The possibility of acquiring a permanent uplink facility so that the University of Toronto may be a more active participant in distance learning activities is being investigated. Paging: Paging systems are used by highly mobile staff within the Facilities and Services (e.g., building property managers) and the Computing and Communications (e.g., field technicians) divisions. These systems provide the ability for a caller to leave a brief one-way voice or alphanumeric text message for the person carrying the paging device. Falling costs for cellular services will eventually replace a large part of this market. Cellular: As the costs of buying cellular devices decrease, more and more mobile staff are considering using this form of wireless communications. Currently, the cost of using cellular is about an order of magnitude greater than that of paging. Some University staff have replaced their paging services with this more functional but more costly alternative. Digital Cordless Telephone (DCT): It is unclear when DCT services will become available to our University. Ultimately, the service providers must install infrastructure (base stations) on our campus for the community to be able to tap into a DCT network. The initial offering of this service is likely to include only voice services since voice is the driver of this technology and the largest market. Opportunities to apply this type of wireless technology in the University environment will depend on the service roll-out, the types of services offered (voice, data, facsimile), and the cost of the service as it compares to other services such as cellular, paging, or the traditional wired access. Narrowband Microwave: This technology is not being used within the University. However, the advent of low-powered microwave and the simplified regulatory process associated with this technology, may provide some opportunities for deploying this technology. For example, the Computing and Communications division has proposed that this technology be used for connections to buildings where it is prohibitively expensive, or next to impossible, to connect the building to the campus network with fibre-optics. Additionally, a project has been launched to connect two remote campuses to the main campus using narrowband microwave facilities. Local Area Networks (LANs): To the best of our knowledge there are no LANs on campus that make use of wireless products. Providing the ability for students to "roam" on campus, asbestos-related concerns with the installation of wiring, and the difficulty of wiring architecturally-sensitive buildings are a few of the challenges that wireless LAN technology may help to resolve. General Mobile Computing and the LAN: The cost of purchasing small lightweight computing devices such as laptops and notebooks is rapidly decreasing. Many of the portable devices include "wired" modems to connect to the PSTN. In some niche markets, such as the trucking industry, these devices may have a built-in proprietary wireless modem that makes use of cellular or satellite networks. However, it is currently very difficult, if not impossible, to provide a LAN environment for highly mobile users of these types of equipment. Dealing with the addressing of the network component is a major problem in the wireless LAN. Additionally, providing distributed functions, such as a file system that "follows the user", prove to be problematic. The common LAN protocols need to be enhanced to allow the highly mobile user to be a participant of the LAN via a wireless service. In the meantime, these users will have to use terminal emulation in conjunction with wireless services to access non-LAN facilities. For example at our University, it may be possible to provide access to our terminal-switched backbone through private wireless PABX or concentrator facilities. 6. The Future of Wireless Not surprisingly, based on the very large potential market for wireless communications, there is no shortage of standards, implementation proposals, architectures, grand architectures, and suggested evolutionary steps being proposed by a host of players, nationally, internationally and globally. Most of these proposals are intermediate steps to the ultimate in wireless communications, a Personal Communications System (PCS). The wireless systems that exist today are categorized as "first generation" or "second generation" systems. These generations differ in their capabilities and in the ability to deliver a PCS environment. Third generation systems are being researched and are not publicly available (although there are some trials in progress). It is not known how many generations will be required to reach the goal of a PCS system but it is unlikely that "n=3" will get us there. Digital Cordless Telephone (DCT): The Canadian Department of Communications (DOC) recently approved the technical standard CT-2Plus for the radio interface of the wireless telephone handset. This standard is based on digital communications and will allow for a much more reliable and noise-free communication channel than the current analogue wireless telephone (a first generation system). In the U.S. there is no movement to select a standard for DCT. Third Generation Systems: Third generation systems could add significant improvements in functionality to the second generation systems. Five of the key areas being researched are bandwidth, compatibility with multiple wide-area networks, true mobility, the provision of an intelligent network infrastructure, and the provision of new services such as data and video. Personal Communications System (PCS): PCS will be an evolution of existing and future services and not an outright replacement of existing technologies. Some suggest that a PCS will be available in the year 2000. While it is true that forms of PCS, based on one's definition, will exist over the next number of years, it is extremely unlikely that a PCS that is ubiquitous, seamless, and provides multimedia capabilities, will be in place by the year 2000. The Author's Predictions: Predicting the future of wireless communications is a very onerous task. Wireless technologies and services are expanding in scope with the ultimate goal of providing a PCS. The number of stakeholders is increasing dramatically. For example, in the U.S., over 250 companies have shown interest in wireless communications by requesting test licenses for PCS trials. Recently, there was a "merger" of a very large U.S. telephone company and a cellular telephone company which some industry analysts believe has a good chance of resulting in a defacto standard for wireless communications in the wide area environment. Of course only time will tell. It is likely that wireless technologies and services will polarize around two important markets - the application of "fixed wireless" in situations where installing wiring is not possible or is expensive, and the application of wireless to provide mobility. Initially, the driver for the former will be connecting machines to networks. The latter will be driven initially by voice applications and some use of low-speed, terminal emulation data applications. In both cases, in the U.S., there are no wireless standards and this will result in incompatible networks and customer equipment. Wireless will be more expensive than "wired" until the customer base is large enough to drive down the costs of manufacturing wireless equipment, and, the cost of sharing the network infrastructure. Once the standards obstacle is overcome there will still be the issue of network provisioning. This will be more of a problem for the mobile market than the fixed wireless types of applications. Wireless networks will first be installed only in high- traffic corridors and large cities since the potential for revenue is higher in these areas. We have already seen this phenomenon with the cellular telephone. While various forms of PCS will exist over the next few years, the required integration of multiple media and the geographical coverage that will make the Dick Tracy wrist-watch a reality, will not occur before the new millennium. How will this affect using wireless in an institutional setting? The answer is unknown and is one of the reasons as to why the following recommendations were made. 7. Recommendations - What We Chose To Do About Wireless and Why Based on the current status of the various wireless technologies and the opportunities that may exist within our University for the deployment of wireless technologies and services, we recommended that: 1. Basic Infrastructure: * we make use of proven wireless technologies, where appropriate, for basic (physical) infrastructure (e.g., cost-effective application of microwave facilities for the "hard to reach" buildings and for intercampus connections). * we investigate or implement a pilot use of emerging wireless technology for basic infrastructure (e.g., wireless LANs). Why? A stable, proven technology such as microwave is a good candidate for providing basic connectivity to buildings that are difficult to connect to the campus network via wiring. It may be possible to connect some of these buildings using infrared or spread spectrum technology but the few products that are available to implement these types of connections have met with mixed success. On the other hand, there is great potential in using wireless technologies to form fixed LANs where installing wiring is not possible or the costs are prohibitive. We have had no real experience with wireless LANs. A pilot implementation would give us the opportunity to understand when and where to use this technology. 2. Wireless Services and Applications: * we continue to make use of proven wireless services and applications where appropriate (e.g., paging/cellular services for campus dispatch, support of highly mobile University staff). * we continue to monitor emerging wireless services and applications in the University context (e.g., DCT services for campus dispatch, personal security). Why? Wireless services such as cellular and paging are well established and provide a reasonable level of service to highly mobile staff. New services, such as DCT or digital cellular, which will become available in the short term, may provide added function such as wireless data access to mobile staff and students. 8. Conclusion While there have been forms of wireless technologies around for years (e.g., satellite television, analogue cordless telephones) the true potential of wireless has not been tapped. Major issues such as spectrum allocation, standards, and government policies need to be addressed and resolved before this burgeoning technology can begin to realize its full potential. This area of information technology is undergoing rapid growth resulting in a plethora of wireless technologies and potential services (and a lot of confusion!). Vendors, governments, researchers, carriers, and "educated" consumers all agree on the vast potential markets and economic opportunities that exist for wireless. For example, the Canadian government believes that the research, products, service development, etc. that will be made possible due to the recent selection of the CT-2Plus DCT (Digital Cordless Telephone) standard for cordless telephone service in Canada, will position Canada as a significant player in the global production and deployment of wireless technologies and services. However, there are a lot of stakeholders in wireless and if the Canadian experience of deciding upon a standard for DCT is any indication, it will take time and a lot of hard work for wireless services to become pervasive and cost-effective. In this vein, it should be stressed that there are wireless products and services that exist today. However, most of these products and services (with perhaps the exception of cellular) are either too expensive, limited in geographical coverage, or just too limited in function to be used as the primary method of allowing people and/or machines to communicate with one another. This is not to say that wireless is not being used cost-effectively in certain niche markets. There are many examples where wireless is quite cost-effective. Two prime examples are the delivery of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) to rural areas, and the provision of local area networks in large open areas where workers are relocated frequently. In conclusion, our wiring "problems" are not going to be solved by wireless communications in the foreseeable future. The typical wired campus plant provides much better bandwidth, reliability, and coverage than the wireless alternatives that exist today. Wireless communications does have a role to play on campus in serving highly mobile staff. Fixed wireless LANs will become popular through the use of the IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN access protocol standard. As can be seen from the number of issues that need to be addressed, the scale of the effort required to provide a personal communications system, and the vast number of parties competing to provide a PCS, the Dick Tracy wrist- watch is not around the corner. References Currie, Tom and Pearce, Frank. "An Update on Wireless Communications." University of Toronto Computing and Communications Report, April 19, 1993. Mathias, Craig. "Wireless LANs: The Next Wave." Data Communications, March 21, 1992, pp. 83-87. 1 Dr. K. Murthy, "Personal Communication Systems and Services", IEEE International Conference on Selected Topics in Wireless Communications, June 24-26, 1992. 2 R. A. Stanley, "Systems Issues in Wireless Communications", IEEE International Conference on Selected Topics in Wireless Communications, June 24-26, 1992.