Understanding Sonet/Sdh and Atm: Communications Networks for the Next Millennium [Paperback]

Stamatios V. Kartalopoulos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0780347455 | ISBN-13: 978-0780347458

"Optical communications and fiber technology are fast becoming key solutions for the increasing bandwidth demands of the 21st century. This introductory text provides practicing engineers, managers, and students with a useful guide to the latest developments and future trends of three major technologies: SONET, SDH, and ATM, and a brief introduction to legacy TDM communications systems.

There are clear explanations of:
* How ATM is mapped onto SONET/SDH
* The role of IP networking with ATM
* Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM)
* The future direction of convergence of communications.

This concise book features easy-to-follow illustrations, review questions, worked examples, and valuable references. An accompanying CD-ROM provides the key figures in full color, suitable for easy cut-and-paste presentations. UNDERSTANDING SONET/SDH AND ATM is a must-read for communication professionals who want to improve their knowledge of this emerging technology."

Sponsored by:
IEEE Communications Society

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Electrical Engineering Understanding SONET/SDH and ATM Communications Networks for the Next Millennium Optical communications and fiber technology are fast becoming key solutions for the increasing bandwidth demands of the 21st century. This introductory text provides practicing engineers, managers, and students with a useful guide to the latest developments and future trends of three major technologies: SONET, SDH and ATM, and a brief introduction to legacy TDM communications systems. You will find clear explanations of:
* The role of Internet protocol (IP) networking with ATM
* Dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM)
* How different packet types are mapped onto ATM
* How ATM is mapped onto SONET/SDH
* The future direction of convergence of communications
This concise book features chapters complete with easy-to-follow illustrations, review questions, worked examples, and valuable references. An accompanying CD-ROM provides the key figures in full color, suitable for easy cut-and-paste presentations. Understanding SONET/SDH and ATM is a must-read for information technology, telecommunications, and communications professionals who want to improve their knowledge of this emerging technology.

About the Author

About the Author Stamatios V. Kartalopoulos is currently on the staff of the Optical Networks Group of Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs Innovations, formerly known as AT&T. His research interests include ATM and SONET/SDH systems, ultrafast pattern recognition, IP and DWDM, access enterprise systems, local area networks, fiber networks, satellite systems, intelligent signal processing, neural networks, and fuzzy logic. He holds several patents of which six patents (and six pending) are in communications and optical communications systems. Dr. Kartalopoulos is the author of Understanding Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic (IEEE Press, 1996). He has published widely on the subject of networks and optical communications systems. He represents the Communications Society to the Technical Activities Board (TAB) New Technology Directions organization, and is a member of the IEEE Press Board. He has also served as guest editor of the IEEE Communications Magazine and as an IEEE associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 257 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Press (April 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0780347455
• ISBN-13: 978-0780347458
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,591,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good material but riddled with errors, October 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Understanding Sonet/Sdh and Atm: Communications Networks for the Next Millennium (Paperback)

The content of this book makes it an excellent introduction to SONET/SDH and as such is self contained. The material covered is presented clearly and comprehensively. What lets this book down is the large number of errors throughout the book, many of which appear to be lack of proof-reading. Unfortunately many of these errors will servce to confuse the reader who is looking for a reliable introductory text.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lots of errors and not a good explanation of SONET, January 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Understanding Sonet/Sdh and Atm: Communications Networks for the Next Millennium (Paperback)

This book was published by the IEEE. It lists two technical reviewers (Curtis Newton and Kevin Sparks) and the author thanks certain anonymous reviewers, I assume, in addition to Newton and Sparks. And yet, the book has an amazing number of errors, even to my quick reading. For example, on page 4 he credits Shannon as developing the criteria that you must sample at twice the bandwidth of interest, when this is generally credited to Nyquist (even Shannon credits Nyquist). On page 10, he claims that 2B1Q is limited to 392 Kbps, when 2B1Q is used on HDSL to provision T1 lines at 1.544 Mbps over two pair (about 784 Kbps over each pair). Extensions to the standard by companies such as Conexant have pushed 2B1Q to about 2.046 Mbps on a single pair. Also on page 10, he associates "frequency hopping" with DMT, instead of wireless spread spectrum. He also claims that CAP modulation can only achieve data rates of 10-175 Kbps. I'm sure the engineers at Globespan will get a chuckle out of that. On page 66, there's an error in Figure 8.9. On pages 55, 56, and 57, his explanation of pointer adjustments has an error on when the pointer is adjusted. And that's just with a quick review (maybe 30 minutes).

But perhaps more importantly, his explanation of SONET/SDH is just not very thorough or clear.

Unfortunately, I can't point you at a good book on SONET/SDH. All of the books I looked at just don't do a good job of explaining it. If you already know the technology you can read the books and understand them, but if you're just starting out you'll get lost in a hurry.

For a good explanation of the network, in general, the best book I've found is Bellamy's "Digital Telephony," 3rd edition. His explanation of SONET, while accurate, is too brief for a novice, however.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Take SDH out of the title., December 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Understanding Sonet/Sdh and Atm: Communications Networks for the Next Millennium (Paperback)

With the current explosion of SDH networking across the globe, a reader would expect a little more substance on SDH in a book that claims to also cover SDH. While the book does highlight SDH in a few chapters, it lacks greatly and cross-references much information on SDH to SONET. While SONET and SDH are similar, they are not the same and the book can confuse readers wanting to learn about SDH by referencing SONET rates in an SDH chapter. I wish some of these authors would get off the SDH bandwagon and stop trying to write something in an area that appears to be outside their expertise. This book is a book about SONET and ATM. For any reader wishing to learn more on SDH, this book is NOT the book to read. The only thing I found useful in this book was the figures available on the CD inside the cover. What I do with the book now is let it collect dust on my bookshelf.