For junior/graduate-level courses including Introduction to Data Communications, Introduction to Networks, Business Telecommunications, Business Data Communications.Focused on fundamental concepts and practical applications, this text prepares students to make intelligent decisions on the appropriate design, purchase, integration, and use of data communications equipment and systems. Clear, well-balanced, and exceptionally readable, it demystifies every aspect of data communications, including relevant terminology, concepts, hardware, software, protocols, architectures, and current and future products. Its coverage is designed to be both accessible for the novice and challenging for the technical practitioner, offering a broad overview throughout the narrative and advanced discussions in special-interest sidebars.
Data Communications: From Basics to Broadband (4th Edition)
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Focused on fundamental concepts and practical applications, this text prepares students to make intelligent decisions on the appropriate design, purchase, integration, and use of data communications equipment and systems. Clear, well-balanced, and exceptionally readable, it demystifies every aspect of data communications including relevant terminology, to concepts, hardware, software, protocols, architectures, and current and future products.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Inside Flap
Preface
The prior editions of this book were more successful than I had originally hoped. The book has been adopted at universities around the world, and the second edition is now in its sixth printing. But this industry changes quickly, and with the many advances in data communications, a third edition was required to update certain topics and add new ones for the new millennium.
The goals of the third edition remain the same as those of the first and second. After years of teaching data communications classes, I was still not satisfied with the scope, clarity, and readability of available textbooks. Some textbooks were aimed at advanced electrical engineering students, while others covered only the business aspects of data communications. I sought to create a text that would be accessible to the novice and at the same time challenging to the engineer or technical professional. Those readers desiring a broad overview can simply follow the body of this text, while the more advanced reader can examine concepts in detail inside the special shaded boxes.
Simply stated, I have tried to demystify data communications. I draw on practical examples to explain all technical concepts, as I have found this technique very successful in my teaching experience. This text introduces the language of data communications. It provides a practical understanding of all the relevant terminology, concepts, hardware, software, protocols, architectures, and other information necessary to make the reader literate in data communications. Current and future product offerings are discussed. By the end of the text, the reader should be able to make intelligent decisions on the appropriate design, purchase, integration, and use of data communications equipment and systems.
The text begins with a thorough introduction to telecommunications, an understanding of which is essential in order to appreciate data communications hardware and software designs. The book then progresses logically, from the basic concepts of data communications to transmission and interface standards, as well as to data integrity and security. At that point, it is appropriate to discuss architectures and protocols to tie the components together, leading to a thorough presentation of different networks. The text concludes with a discussion of current and future trends in digital telecommunications, including an in-depth examination of standards currently being developed.
At the end of each chapter, I have provided a summary, as well as a list of newly introduced terms. Exercises are also included to help the reader review the material. A thorough glossary of terms and acronyms, an index, and a topical bibliography will ensure this book's usefulness to the reader as a reference tool long after any courses are completed.
The impact of continuously evolving technologies in this vital industry must not be overlooked. I have therefore focused on both fundamental concepts and practical applications, so that the reader can understand data communications today and also be prepared to understand future advances in technology, products, and standards. The key in developing such a text is not only what to include, but also what to leave out. There are many thicker books on data communications available. Boiling it down to the essentials is what this book is all about.
I believe that I have succeeded in providing a clearer, well-balanced, and more practical approach to data communications.
WHAT'S NEW IN THE THIRD EDITION
The entire book has been revised with the increasing importance of the Internet in the new millennium in mind. Various Internet-access technologies, like Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable modems, are now covered, and the use of ISDN lines for this purpose is also discussed. TCP/IP and related protocols are now presented in much greater detail. This includes an expanded section on the use of SMTP and MIME for electronic mail, HTTP for hypertext, Telnet and Rlogin for remote access, FTP for file transfer, UDP for sending individual packets, SNMP for network management, and SLIP and PPP as data link protocols. S/MIME, SSL, and IPSec are discussed in an expanded treatment of security enhancements that have helped advance the use of the Internet for commercial purposes. The differences between IPv4 and IPv6 are presented as well. Increased coverage is provided to various encryption standards, algorithms, and software. Information regarding the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and its work are now included, and the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) is also presented. Also included is a discussion of the use of client/server architectures to implement Web-based intranets, with Web browsers as the universal client. Thin clients, network computers, and their applications are presented. An expanded comparison of IP and ATM technologies is now provided, and their ability to coexist in the future is considered.
The increasing domination of Ethernet in the LAN environment is now reflected, with additional discussion regarding Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, half duplex Ethernet, and full duplex Ethernet. A detailed description of the Ethernet Frame is also provided. Other high-speed LAN standards, including High Speed Token Ring, are presented. The increased use of LAN switches is discussed, and Layer 2 switching, Layer 3 switching, Layer 4 switching, and other switching technologies are compared. Expanded coverage of collision domains and LAN segmentation is also provided. In the area of network management, coverage of SNMP is greatly expanded, and there is a new section discussing RMON. Additional network manager software products are also presented.
In addition, updates are provided in the areas of telecommunications regulation, increased competition, and mergers among carriers. A discussion of changes in area codes and long-distance carrier access codes is also included. A more detailed treatment of cellular telephone standards and technology, including AMPS, ETACS, CDMA, TDMA, and GSM, is now provided as well. The Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Firewire (IEEE 1394) standards are presented. Wave division multiplexing (WDM) is covered, and satellites are now presented in greater detail, with descriptions of the differences between systems orbiting at various altitudes. A description of V 90 56 kbps modems and an explanation of how they differ from conventional analog modems are also provided. Finally, definitions of over 150 new terms and acronyms within the new material have been added to the glossary.
Additional materials for this text can be found on the following website: prenhall/beyda.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The efforts of a few, and the inspiration of many, have led to the successful completion of this book. My father, Joseph D. Beyda, was a constant source of suggestions and moral support during the creation of the first edition, though he did not live to see the
later editions. My mother, Barbara M. Beyda, once again applied her considerable editorial skills to ensure the readability of this text. I will always be grateful to my wife Cathy, my son Joey, and my daughter Rachel for their help, patience, and support while I completed this third edition.
Though I left Stanford University with a strong academic and technical foundation, along with a B.S. in electrical engineering and an M.S. in engineering management, it was only upon entering the telecommunications industry that I acquired more practical knowledge. I have been privileged to work with some of the sharpest minds in the industry at Siemens, where we learn from each other every day.
For the last 15 years, I have been teaching introductory classes on data communications at U.C. Berkeley Extension. My students have given me a new perspective on the field, and I am grateful for their insights. Their comments and questions planted the seed for this work. I would like to thank Richard Tsina, chairman of the U.C. Berkeley Extension Engineering program, for his encouragement. Joan Shao, director of the U.C. Berkeley Extension Telecommunications Engineering program, has been especially supportive.
The technical reviewers contributed significantly to the accuracy and readability of this text. Florin Gheorghiu, Charles Okwudiafor, Rich Seifert, and Stan Telson each reviewed significant portions of the revised material. As they are active instructors in the field, their perspective has been invaluable. The editorial and production staff at Prentice Hall has been very helpful as well.
Finally, to the readers of this book, thank you for your feedback over the years and your interest in this field. The information superhighway will need your help to reach its full potential.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not for Engineers or anyone with a technical background,
By A Customer
This review is from: Data Communications: From Basics to Broadband (3rd Edition) (Paperback)
This book covers all the major topics in data communications but does so in a very simplistic manner that barely scratches the surface of any of the topics covered. Of course the breadth of the book is so wide that it would not be possible to cover even a fraction of the topics in any detail. The back of the book says that it is a suitable book for those with a technical background and that the 'shaded areas' go into more technical detail. I found the shaded areas to be just as elementary as the rest of the book, and in many cases doesn't tell the full story. This is a good book if you only want an introduction to telecomm topics, or want a dictionary of telecomm acronyms. It is fairly well written and has some very simplistic analogies for those who might need plain english illustrations of telecomm concepts. The reason I'm giving it a low rating is because I feel the publisher/author is trying to sell this to a technical audience, which I strongly feel it is not suitable for. But if you know nothing about volts, bytes, bits, baud, hertz, etc... then this would be a good place to start.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must for anybody who wants a thorough intro to the subject,
By A Customer
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Data Communications: From Basics to Broadband (3rd Edition) (Paperback)
An amazingly well organized and readable introductory book for anybody who is curious about the telecom/datacom infrastructure. I highly recommend this as the first primer.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bps or Baud Rate? What's the difference?,
By A Customer
This review is from: Data Communications: From Basics to Broadband (3rd Edition) (Paperback)
Excellent first reference on networks. Definitions are well defined, and new terms are highlighted. Author uses easy to understand analogies to describe complex concepts. Good for novice to intermediate student.
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