With the rapid expansion of wireless consumer products,there has been a con-
siderable increase in the need for radio-frequency (RF) planning, link plan-
ning, and propagation modeling.A network designer with no RF background
may find himself/herself designing a wireless network. A wide array of RF
planning software packages can provide some support, but there is no substi-
tute for a fundamental understanding of the propagation process and the lim-
itations of the models employed. Blind use of computer-aided design (CAD)
programs with no understanding of the physical fundamentals underlying the
process can be a recipe for disaster. Having witnessed the results of this
approach, I hope to spare others this frustration.
