Telecom Crash Course [Paperback]

Steven Shepard (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071382135 | ISBN-13: 978-0071382137 | Publication Date: October 25, 2001 | Edition: 1

Get a sound fix on the expanding universe of telecom

Explore the vast telecom landscape -- from standards and protocols to premise, access and transport technologies. Far more than an acronym-studded quick fix, Telecom Crash Course is a true tutorial that offers you context, connections, and the wisdom to quickly grasp key technologies, including wireless Internet, optical networking, 3G, IP, protocol layer, PSTN, ATM, spread spectrum, GPRS, and SIP. Author Steven Shepard includes lively stories that deliver important points about the markets that drive the technologies. You get rigorous technical accuracy, with explanations of each technology's economic importance. Here’s your chance to decipher the alphabet soup of telecom acronyms -- not just what they stand for, but what they mean and how they can generate profits.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"An outstanding book for the novice that should be on the desk of every industry professional as well. Written in a style that is never boring, it covers the vast technological landscape from standards and protocols to premise, access and transport technologies, managing to entertain every step of the way."
Kenneth R. Sato

SPEAK TELECOM

Even veterans will welcome this short-cut course to the expanding universe of telecom. Far more than the standard acronym-studded quick fix, Telecom Crash Course is a true tutorial to the essentials of the field, offering not just quick explanations but context, connections, and wisdom. Without the need for an engineering degree or an MBA, you'll quickly grasp both key technologies and the markets that drive them.

FUN TO READ

TELECOM CRASH COURSE gives you an enjoyable and colorful intro to the field. Lively, pointed stories drive home important points. Plus, you get rigorous technical accuracy-with explanations of each technology's economic importance. This is the book to choose if you mean business in telecom.

What you need to know, FAST!

* The one book every telecom beginner needs
* Explains each technology in terms of market basics: Why is it important?
* Deciphers the alphabet soup of telecom acronyms-not just what they stand for but what they mean and how they can generate profits
* Wireless internet, optical networking, 3G, IP, protocol layer, PSTN, ATM, spread spectrum, GPRS, SIP. Confused? You won't be after a few hours with the Telecom Crash Course

About the Author

STEVEN SHEPARD is the author of three previous well-received books: the industry bestseller Telecommunications Convergence, SONET/SDH Demystified, and Optical Networking Crash Course. A professional writer and educator, formerly with Hill Associates, he frequently conducts seminars and workshops on telecom topics. He lives in Williston, Vermont.

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional; 1 edition (October 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071382135
• ISBN-13: 978-0071382137
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,668,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a scatterbrained mess..., November 14, 2003

By 

Johnny Utah (from the band "Blues Hammer") - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Telecom Crash Course (Paperback)

First off, a word of warning: Pay heed to the reader's words from Woburn Mass, all of the 5 star reviews of this book actually are from people who are mentioned in the book's acknowledgements.

I purchased this book mostly to learn about telephony. I already know a lot about data networking, and I wanted to expand my knowledge of other aspects of telecom and optical WAN technologies like SONET and SDH. I knew I was in for trouble after reading about 50 pages. Have you ever read a technical book where you had a really hard time absorbing the info, even when you re-read the same paragraphs over and over again? Well, chances are it's not your fault, it's the author's! I can say this for sure about this book, b/c it described stuff that I already know about, and after reading it, I was more confused than before!

Part of the problem is the author's complete lack of organizational logic. On page 2, he describes all of the "techno-jargon" that permeates the telecom industry, and "often gets in the way of the relatively straightforward task of learning how all this stuff actually works". I totally agree, jargon should not obfuscate. BUT, if you're going to point out this common pitfall, you best avoid it yourself, and Shepard does not! He's all over the board, dropping terms and concepts with little or no explanation. About 10 pages in, it's already a muddled mess.

The mess gets worse. He discusses all of these different approaches to multiplexing, but doesn't take the time to explain what the basic process of multiplexing is all about until page 200! Throughout the entire book, he constantly refers to switching versus routing, but he doesn't explain the basic processes until the final 2 pages! These are just a couple examples that stuck out in my mind.

To be sure, there is some useful information to be gleaned here, but it's hard to sort out from all the "noise". Shepard gets into way too much detail on certain subjects and not enough on others, without any discernable logic. For example, he spends several pages discussing how fiber cables are manufactured, but spends less than one page discussing the basic processes of routing and switching. However, given the topic of the book, isn't the latter subject a lot more applicable? As far as I know, telecom professionals don't need to make the actual fiber cables.

This book is too technical for someone who doesn't know anything about telecom, and it's not practical enough for someone who knows a lot. If you're in between like me, you stand to gain a decent high-level overview of the industry, but the details are murky at best.

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars entertaining but lightweight, July 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Telecom Crash Course (Paperback)

The author has a knack for seeing the big picture and coming up with funny metaphors to describe it (see Austrailian rules football in the other review). Also, he has a lot of friends in the business - four of the 5 star reviews below are from people listed in the acknowledgements. There is technical material here but the selection is sort of random, so you may or may not find a detailed explanation of a subject you're looking for. But his brief discussion of JPEG compression was so absurdly wrong it made me less enthusiastic about reading through the rest of his technical presentations.

I won't say this book is worthless, because he does have a marketer's flair for making business sense of technology and predicting trends, and there is probably enough material here to fill a few good magazine articles. One of them, on the psychology of computer hacking (inserted in the middle of a discussion of the OSI protocol stack), unfortunately has nothing to do with telecom. Also, the mini-Esperanto/English dictionary is entertaining but probably should have been left for the author's web site. I mean, I agree that's funny, but there are those of us who paid for a book on telecom.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Everything's here...you just have to find it!, October 11, 2004

By 

Jeffrey N. Takle (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Telecom Crash Course (Paperback)

Telecom's Crash Course is an excellent compilation of all major facets of the Telecommunications industry. As someone who monitors foreign investments into the US technology sector, I've found this both an excellent primer for newbies as well as a very helpful resource to those who have been doing this for a while.

The PROS: The book is comprehensive and walks through the very tactical level, detailed explanation of specific technologies and the many ways that a given portion of data can move across the planet. If you're new to the field, reading this book is the cheapest and fastest method to be armed with a semi-comprehensive knowledge spanning the industry.

The CONS: I can see how people could say that this book gets lost in the weeds because the explanations are sometimes extensive, detailed, and probably don't fit the bill if you're looking for a book covering the overall trends present in the telecoms market. If you're looking for a "big concepts" book only, this isn't for you. Reviewers commenting on the book's lack of focus were probably hoping primarily for a "here are the major trends in the industry" and not an industry technology primer, a "crash course" in the industry.

Buy the paperback. It's a bit of a painful read in places, but hey, this is Telecoms, and it doesn't get too many people hyper excited--if you're buying a book called "Telecoms Crash Course" and expecting a nail-biting thriller, you probably have some misplaced expectations! Enjoy.