I was asked to review this book a while back.  Given that it's a great reference book, but, at over 800 technical pages, it's not exactly nightstand material, it's taken me a little longer than I'd hoped. However, what I found inside is an excellent telecommunications reference book that certainly belongs in my library.

I'm not going to list a complete table of contents in this post. You can find that and a couple of sample chapters here. Rather, I'm going to point out a few of the things I found really noteworthy among those chapters in the book.

The book is broken into four general sections

Communications Fundamentals really focuses on the basics of telecom, but starts with a chapter that makes for a great paper on its own. The "Understanding the Telecommunications Revolution" chapter pulls together and synthesizes a great deal of what's going on in the telecom industry today.

The remainder of this first section of the book provides the basics. There are great basic explanations of transmission lines, circuits, channelization and virtual circuits. There's a section on analog vs digital transmission, explanations of codecs, and multiplexing in very good detail. Chapter 3 provids more than you'll ever want to know about media in practical terms -  everything from coax to microwave to satellite, with a comprehensive section on fiber technologies. Chapter 4 is all about connections  - switching modes - really packet vs. circuit switching. There's an entire chapter on the PSTN that includes SONET infrastructure, SS7 and Advanced Intelligent Networks (AINs).

Section two focuses on the basics of data networking. It starts off with DTE/DCE basics, then moves into modems and modulation methods. Coding schemes and transmission modes get solid coverage. And there's the obligatory OSI Reference Model that does a really good job.

The remainder of the book steps through everything from ISD to ATM, from LAN topologies and protocols to VLANs and routing.

There's the obligatory "history of the Internet" section. Why do every one of us who write a technical book include that? I question whether it was useful in my own IP Telephony Demystified five years ago, and I question it's usefulness here

The book gives a nice look at broadband architectures and technologies. It introduces security concepts, VPNs and VoIP and then moves into newer emerging technologies.


I spent a number of years teaching what I'd call technology curriculum. The classes I taught ranged from a one-day class on IP Telephony to parts of a ten-week curriculum on the full suite of voice and data technologies. One of the classes I most enjoyed teaching was a five day technology fly by that covered everything in the voice and data networking sector in a week. It often left students with a glazed over deer in the headlights look on the second day, but that class always got the best feedback as a stellar learning experience.

If I'm called on to teach a week-long course again, I'll use this book as the backdrop text to fame the course.

This is a text that I think belongs in every telecom and data netowkring manager's arsenal of information. In fact, I'm off to order four copies from Amazon as Christmas gifts for people I know who are new in that role and can use a valuable resource. I highly recommend this book.


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