| ||||||||||||
ATM Volume I is a book for propeller heads like you and me, who are really fascinated by this stuff, people to whom data is data, and whose concern is that bits get lovingly wrapped and posted to their ultimate destination.
Genuine propeller-head books seem always to be printed on that heavy absorbent paper. I guess it's because they expect you to have them with you in the field and to spill coffee on them. ATM Volume I shares with other books of the propeller-head genre a few minor defects. The index is a little sparse. There is a table of acronyms in the back, but some acronyms (STP, for example) are overloaded in the text and not all overloads appear in the table.
Who cares? You're going to read this one page by page and absorb it, while the pages absorb your coffee. --Jack Woehr, Dr. Dobb's Journal -- Dr. Dobb's Journal
Recently, one of my clients, who is a systems engineer for a large telecommunications firm, told me that one of her major problems is staying abreast of the technologies that are embedded into her companyÕs products. I hear this statement often. Like many others in our industry, this person does not have the time to read the technical specifications published by the standards organizations and the user forums. She must spend her professional time performing the day-to-day tasks of the job, essentially taking care of her clients and her accounts.
The common lament is that many professionals are barely ahead of their customers in their knowledge and ability to field their questions about not just the company products, but how they fit into an overall telecommunications architecture. Increasingly, this systems engineer has been forced to know about many diverse protocols, standards, and architectures. Her clients query her on topics such as the relationship of ATM and Frame Relay, why Novell uses IPX and not IP, why Netbios is not routable, etc.
It is to this person that this series is devoted (indeed, most of my books are so focused). It is my hope that I have provided a series that will meet this engineerÕs needs in the field.
This book is the second book of Prentice HallÕs Advanced Communications Technologies, which serves as a complement to the flagship book, Emerging Communications Technologies.
I have included a chapter on existing technologies, titled "Emerged Technologies." This chapter is a summary of a chapter of the same title from the flagship book for this series. I have added a section in this chapter on why functions and services of several of these technologies (for data networks) have been reduced or eliminated in an ATM network. I suggest the reader review this chapter for two reasons: (a) to make certain the ISDN, X.25, SS7, and T1/E1 systems are understood, and (b) to understand why ATM operations do not include many functions that are an integral part of current data networks. The ATM story is far from complete. As of this writing, ATM systems are now being deployed, but some of the ATM standards are still being written. One cannot wait to write a book on emerging technologies until they have "emerged," else there would be no book to write. So, this book represents the state of ATM as of the date of submittal of my work to my publisher.
Notes for the reader:
In revised specifications, the ATM Forum is now using the phrase "traffic descriptor" for "user cell rate." Where appropriate, this book uses the former phrase.
The ITU-T is in the process of revising its ATM signaling and control procedures Recommendation (switched virtual calls/connections on demand). It is available in draft form as Q.2931. The ATM ForumÕs specification differs slightly from Q.2931, and this book reflects the ATM ForumÕs specification. The reader can refer to Appendix E of the ATM Forum UNI 3.1 specification for a comparison of the two specifications.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
worst author in telecom,
By A Customer
This review is from: ATM, Volume I: Foundation for Broadband Networks (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)
This author is notorious for his skillfulness in copying standards. I really doubt he ever understand the technology he is writing on. Almost any book he wrote and I have read is a big confusion. Reader can buy a ITU standard instead of his expensive book to get the question answered. Advice to novice: avoid this author at all. I just admire his speed in rolling out these books, without violating copyright.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Hard to read book,
By A Customer
This review is from: ATM Volume I: Foundation for Broadband Networks (Hardcover)
This the most hard to read book I've ever met. The new people to the ATM will get lost in a short time in the words, and experts of ATM can not find any useful information in a short time. The writer never explain the new concept and abbreviation clearly. It seems that he is not writing this book to let readers read, but murmuring to himself. Don't wast time on this book like the victim as me.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The foundation is crumbling,
By Tim Kerssen (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: ATM, Volume I: Foundation for Broadband Networks (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)
This book was assigned as a textbook for a class. Fortunately,the class included lecture because the textbook lacks coherentexplanations for the most basic principles. As an engineeringtextbook, it is quite poor. Explanations are vague and contain little relevant detail. Perhaps the worst feature of the entire book is the index. For a 434 page book, a two page index is not even close to enough. In defense of the index though, those 434 pages are all large type with many useless, cartoonish, redundant illustrations. As a brief overview, this may be adequate. But, for the price, I certainly expect more meat and less fat, something with the quality and content approaching that put out by Stallings or Tanenbaum.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|