Communications Systems and Networks [Paperback]

Ray Horak (Author), Harry Newton (Foreword), Mark A. Miller (Consultant Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764575228 | ISBN-13: 978-0764575228 | Publication Date: January 15, 2000 | Edition: 2nd

Packed with diagrams and illustrations, Communications & Systems delivers plain-English explanations of all the technical fundamentals -- and puts everything in context by addressing standards, regulations, and the real-world outlook for legacy, contemporary, and emerging technologies. In this unique overview, Ray Horak lucidly describes today's communications systems and networks -- voice, data, video, and multimedia -- and explains how they are likely to evolve and converge as we move further toward an information-based economy. Whether you're a communications pro who wants to gain some perspective or you just want to understand our increasingly wired and wireless world, this is the one book you need to see the big picture, with just the right amount of detail.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Living in an era of instant communication has certain drawbacks. Not too long ago, the living was simpler. People had one or two telephone numbers, a street address, and access to four or five television channels. Now, we have phone numbers for home, work, mobile phone, fax machine, and pager. We have multiple e-mail addresses. We have access to unlimited information over the Internet. With digital cable or a personal satellite dish, we choose from hundreds of television channels. The communication technology behind this revolution continues to evolve--becoming faster, cheaper, and more prolific. What technology is behind the scenes, and how does all of this information get delivered? That is the question that's answered by this remarkable tome, Ray Horak's Communications Systems & Networks.

Horak explains communication technologies in 15 chapters, using the growing convergence of voice, data, and video as the narrative thread that holds the book together. He starts at the beginning--telegraph and early telephone--and details the progression from analog voice signals to modern high-speed digital networks. Along the way, he emphasizes technical breadth. For exhaustive detail on any one subject, Horak enumerates relevant sources and suggests additional reading at the end of each chapter. This feature makes this book the ideal place to start when researching any communications topic. Another good thing about this book is its pragmatic approach to communications. Horak blends a high-level view of the subject with implementation and deployment issues, as well as the relative costs of different technologies.

This book is valuable for both engineers and managers. It's a perfect resource for inquisitive engineers who are well versed about one area of communications and want to explore the rest of the communications world. For a manager who wants a technical overview of a given subject, the depth is perfect--just enough knowledge to become dangerous.

The conversational style of the book also is a welcome touch. In contrast to technical books that require a can of Jolt to stay awake, Horak presents complex material concisely. Historical perspective is integrated with technical details, and reflects the author's many years of experience. Topics such as the Telecommunication Act of 1996 are explained in the context of technological change, and give the reader a comprehensive overview of virtually all communication technologies. This book is the perfect complement to such industry mainstays as Perlman's Interconnections, Comer's Internetworking with TCP/IP, and Tanenbaum's Computer Networks. --Pete Ostenson

Review

Perfect for communications professionals and baffled novices...features plain-English explanations for all the technical fundamentals of networking... -- Teleconnect magazine, June 2000

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Product Details

• Paperback: 697 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2nd edition (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764575228
• ISBN-13: 978-0764575228
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.9 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #842,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ray Horak is the President of The Context Corporation (www.contextcorporation.com), an independent consultancy with its world headquarters in Mt. Vernon, WA. Ray has been involved in telecommunications for 40 years, having begun his career with Southwestern Bell and later gaining experience with AT&T and Bell Labs. He moved on as an executive with Continental Telephone, where he later founded CONTEL Tenant Services and served as General Manager of Executone Houston. Ray assumes no responsibility for the fact that most of these companies no longer exist in recognizable form. Ray is an acclaimed consultant, lecturer and writer with a plain-English, commonsense approach to telecommunications. He is the author of the best-selling Communications Systems and Networks (1997, 2000, & 2002). His most recent books for Wiley & Sons are Telecommunications and Data Communications Handbook (2007, 2008) and Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary (2007). Ray has written hundreds of articles, white papers, solutions briefs, case studies and columns and currently is the Technology Editor for Telecom Reseller newspaper. He teaches public and private seminars around the world on telecommunications and has extensive experience as an expert consultant/witness in support of telecom-related litigation, largely involving intellectual property matters (trademarks, copyrights and patents) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well organized and lucid, February 3, 2000

By 

James Kim "jaimetown" (Northern Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Communications Systems and Networks (Paperback)

This book is not for beginners. If you are looking for a really good beginner's book for non-techies, Annabel Dodd's 'The Essential Guide to Telecommunications' would be a good start for you. This book assumes a fair bit of knowledge on the part of the reader and is loaded with a lot of technical language, but if you are even a little comfortable with the telecom language, there's a great deal to be learned from this book.

Two things I really like about this book. First, the material is very up-to-date. In one chapter, Horak explains various 'flavors' of DSL very well--differences in how they are provisioned. He also spends a lot of time covering LAN and data networks, which is great considering most telecom traffic will eventually be data (not voice). Second, the diagrams showing how the networking equipment work and connect with each other is very helpful, especially for a guy like me with a non-engineering background.

I usually don't use the term 'gripping' to describe a technical book, but Horak's book is just that because I get hungry to learn more about how the whole telecommunications-network-thing works. Perfect to use in defense against those engineers who have looked down on the liberal arts grads for our ignorance of technology!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent knowledge baseline for communications networks, June 5, 2000

By 

Paul Given (Denver, CO - on the road) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Communications Systems and Networks (Paperback)

As a switch software developer for many years, I have developed a deep understanding of small corners of switch features, but lacked a good overall knowledge of network architecture. Thank you, Ray, for providing me with the system overview essential for the systems engineering job that I have recently assumed. This is a comprehensive overview of modern communications networks (with interesting brief histories - a nice touch for good readability) aimed at a person with some telecom experience, but like me, with an incomplete background. This book has very nicely filled in knowledge gaps with a great overview of the technologies involved in today's networks. Some of this was familiar, and the rest I knew only in vague generalities. I have been recommending it to others in the field as a good reference. My only complaint is that it is large and cumbersome, so does not travel well. A CD-ROM version would be a very nice handy reference while on my frequent road trips. And he takes his solicitation for input, as stated in the foreword, very seriously.

I think the level of detail is just right, as it gives me enough background to follow technical discussions and ask intelligent questions.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, An Instant Classic, July 9, 2000

By 

John Downing (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Communications Systems and Networks (Paperback)

When Ray sent me a copy of the new Second edition of "Communications Systems & Networks" I was expecting a good update of the 1996 first edition. Instead Ray has produced an almost entirely new text, and he's done a simply OUTSTANDING job.

Ray is the editor of Newton's Telecom Dictionary, and this book makes an excellent companion text to that great classic. Those of you who read my reviews know that I give free copies of that text to every student who attends my TrainingCity.com classes. If you bought Newton's Telecom Dictionary, buy this book, you won't ever regret it.

Ray uses his experience editing "Newton's" throughout "Communications Systems and Networks." Every term is explained clearly and concisely. Reading through this book I was continually amazed at how well Ray can explain complex concepts, and get ALL the relevant information into so few paragraphs.

In conclusion, I believe this is an instant classic, and a must have for any Voice & Data library.