Wireless technology, which uses electromagnetic waves to
communicate information from one point to another, can be applied to
computers and other electronic devices. Although wireless technologies
have been used in specific applications for decades, wireless networks
have recently become much more widespread due to better technology and
lower prices. Once the IEEE first defined wireless standards in the
late 1990’s, wireless networking became feasible for a wide range of
business and personal applications. Wireless networking offers various
advantages over wired connections, including mobility, connectivity,
adaptability, and ease of use in locations that prohibit wiring.
Universities, airports, and major public places are currently taking
advantage of wireless technology, and many businesses, health care
facilities, and major cities are developing their own wireless
networks. Since the cost of wireless networks has dropped dramatically
in recent years, they are also becoming more popular in home
computing.
The Special Topics list of highly cited wireless/mobile network
papers from the past decade covers various aspects of wireless
technology, but focuses on improving network performance. Some
articles deal with improving wireless network speed through modifying
transmission protocols. Attempts to increase performance when
transmitting multimedia and video data are also present. Routing
protocols, call admission schemes, and mobility management are
examined for the purpose of alleviating network congestion and
increasing overall performance. Other articles focus on energy
concerns in wireless networks, including battery life and
power-sensitive networks, while another article concentrates on
security issues. The use of beamforming to exploit multiuser diversity
for increased capacity emerges in two of the later articles.
The highly cited wireless/mobile network articles from the past two
years cover diverse topics emerging in the wireless technology field.
Improving performance remains a major issue, as shown in articles on
relay channel signaling protocols and spectral efficiency, along with
articles on improved models and metrics for assessing performance.
Cooperation, in particular multiuser and spatial diversity, is
explored for the purpose of increasing performance and capacity. Other
topics include energy usage, security in location-based services,
mobility management, and Bluetooth-based networks. Some specific
wireless applications are studied, including wireless sensor networks
and wireless devices used in elementary school classrooms. Since the
FCC allocated bandwidth for commercial ultra-wideband (UWB) devices in
2002, UWB system design has also emerged as a wireless network topic.
Methodology
To construct this database,
papers were extracted based on article-supplied keywords for Wireless/Mobile
Networks. The keywords used were as follows:
wireless network*
OR
mobile network*
The baseline time span for this database
is 1995-Dec. 31, 2005. The resulting database contained 3,249 (10 years)
and 1,449 (2 years) papers; 6,142 authors; 63 countries; 313 journals; and
1,511 institutions.
Rankings
Once the database was in place,
it was used to generate the lists of top 20 papers (two- and ten-year
periods), authors, journals,
institutions, and nations, covering a time span of 1995-December 31,
2005 (sixth bimonthly,
an 11-year period).
The top 20 papers are ranked
according to total cites. Rankings for author, journal, institution,
and country are listed in three ways: according to total cites, total
papers, and total cites/paper. The paper thresholds and corresponding
percentages used to determine
scientist, institution, country, and journal rankings according to
total cites/paper, and total papers respectively are as follows:
| Entity: |
Scientists |
Institutions |
Countries |
Journals |
| Thresholds: |
9 |
23 |
9 |
6 |
| Percentage: |
1% |
2% |
50% |
20% |
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