Communication Networks

By Sharam Hekmat

This book is concerned with post-computer communication networks and two of its important streams: data communication and telecommunication. Data communication refers to the communication between digital computers, facilitated by computer networks. Telecommunication refers to the primarily human-to-human communication facilitated by the global telephone system. The differences between these two streams are mainly due to historical reasons. Telecommunication is increasingly relying on digital computer technology, and data communication is relying more than ever on telecommunication networks. The two streams are rapidly converging.

Newcomers to this field are often bewildered by the substantial wealth of information already published on the subject. This book is aimed at this group of people. It provides a broad coverage of the key concepts, techniques, and terminology, so as to prepare readers for more advanced discussions. In-depth discussions of technically-involved topics are intentionally avoided in favor of more general concepts. No previous knowledge of networks or programming is assumed.

The structure of the book is as follows. Chapter 1 introduces computer networks and explains some of their elementary concepts. It also introduces the OSI reference model, upon which later chapters are based. Each of Chapters 2-8 describes one of the seven layers of the OSI model in the context of wide area data networks. Chapter 9 looks at local area networks and their applications. Chapter 10 provides an introduction to telecommunication. Chapter 11 builds on earlier chapters by examining ISDN as the merging point of data and voice networks. Chapter 12 looks at the ATM technology and the potential applications that it can support.

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