The New McGraw-Hill Telecom Factbook
by David A. Garbin, Joseph A. Pecar

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Book Reviews of The New McGraw-Hill Telecom Factbook

Book Review: Author's Comments
Summary: 5 Stars

In any technical book, nothing is more important than accurate, factual information, or in Rabi's words - technical truth. Unfortunately, particularly in introductory books, inadequate scope, oversimplification, and shallow or incorrect definition and explanations of key technologies deny readers the factual understanding they invest their time to learn.

And, if accuracy is paramount, clarity ranks a close second in terms of desirable introductory technical book attributes. Books comprehensible only by scholars or technologists with existing in-depth knowledge and mathematical prowess, are of little help to business people and individuals that make up the majority of those who must use today's advanced technologies.

The principal objective of our updated book remains to provide a reliable, comprehensive introduction and insightful perspectives into all modern telecommunications services and underlying technologies. A second objective-no less important than the first-is to employ a presentation style easily understood by government and commercial telecommunications planners, managers, users, and professionals who do not have the time to sift through multiple publications, complex formulae, and mathematics only to be forced to draw their own conclusions regarding technology, performance, and market alternatives.

We treat all important telecommunications services and technologies, but the quantity of information is limited to that needed for complete understanding. In addition, rather than just addressing topics individually, expert interpretations provide a valuable grasp of "bottom line" relationships among emerging services, technologies, and industry standards.

Simplicity of presentation style does not sacrifice the ability to familiarize readers with industry terminology and essential concepts-which is often the case with introductory material. To accomplish this, we systematically present basic definitions as part of explanations of larger concepts. This equips readers not only with terminology, but also with rationale behind real-world applications, a tremendous advantage for thorough understanding and memory retention.

In this respect, perhaps the feature of the original "The McGraw-Hill Telecommunications Factbook" contributing most to its popularity and effectiveness is the rich array, quality and clarity of its figures. Using over 240 figures, the new book goes far beyond simply identifying and defining panoplies of services and technologies. Inimitable technology taxonomy charts form the basis for uncommonly clear explications that fully apprise readers of essential differences and the practical advantages among alternative technology options.

The appearance of such a book could not have been more timely. The mushrooming rate of introduction of new technologies has created an enormous need for technically literate employees and a critical shortage of such workers in the United States. Since current laws limit the use of immigrants, many businesses are pursuing aggressive US recruitment and intensive training programs. Because many of the rapidly appearing new technologies are more complex than their predecessors, new and more efficient learning techniques and tools are a necessity. In this regard, we honestly believe our book has established new plateaus of pedagogical excellence.

We are proud of the fact that readers with no prior engineering or mathematical backgrounds, with only vague perceptions of what analog or digital electronic signals might be, can pick up our book, and gain a practical appreciation of telecommunications fundamentals; acquire a familiarity with industry standard terminology; and end up with working understandings of complex capabilites like DS1/DS3 (T1/T3) asynchronous multiplexing; SONET synchronous multiplexing; modulation schemes used in some of the most advanced digital subscriber link (DSL) and cellular wireless services; insights into the most successful and valuable Internet technologies; and, countless other pivotal telecommunications technologies that can bolster the success of nearly every enterprise, and indeed all industrialized nations.

We believe that imparting substantive explanations of telecommunications technologies is markedly different than the practice of simply heralding, "headline-grabbing", "bell and whistle" features of new technologies - which is all that is offered in superficial introductory manuscripts.

But, beyond salutary effects that telecommunications has on companies or nations, are more personal benefits. In fact, telecommunications is the technology most directly related to man's highest faculty and his most sublime activities: namely, his acquisition of information, the thoughts by which he interprets and postulates new ideas and conclusions, and the exchange of his thoughts with others to refine and iterate the process. There is no question that telecommunications greatly augments both the potential quality and the timeliness of these powerful and uniquely human abilities.

In truth, what modern agricultural and grocery-product transportation and distribution technologies do for men's stomachs is analogous to what telecommunications technologies do for men's minds. And with the pace of new technology advancement approaching the "speed of light through fiber cables", the possibilities are exciting and perhaps unbounded. Acquire the book and read on - the fun is just beginning!

Summary of The New McGraw-Hill Telecom Factbook

Signaling System #7 is the hands-down choice for engineers and network managers everywhere. Travis Russell's Signaling System #7, Third Edition, gives you a bedrock understanding of the signaling network, its architecture, and the protocols used to communicate through it. Accessible even to novices, Russell's guide also provides the technical details, protocol messages, and application examples so fundamentally helpful to developers, engineers, and network planners. Network-switching expert Russell brings his succinct, logical style to:

* New coverage on VoIP and SS7-TCP/IP interactions
* Solutions to protocol issues in migrating telecom to the Internet
* Details on SS7 in broadband and cellular networking
* Lucid explanations of protocols and network entities, with hands-on examples and applications
* Clarifications of ANSI standards and Bellcore publications, with model solutions
*New information on local number portability
* Needed technical data for design and specifications

As a rule, telephony is explained in terms of its general concepts, which helps offset the tendency here to refer to North American carriers, trade names, and laws in examples. You'll find plenty of formulas, and sample calculations enhance their value. Instead of just stating the Erlang-C formula, for example, the book shows how to analyze a call center's load pattern for purposes of provisioning equipment. Telecom Factbook also distinguishes itself from other general telecommunications texts with its detailed comparisons of competing technologies. Usually, you'll find descriptions of each technology that fits a given need, plus supporting conceptual diagrams. Grids help clarify the technologies' relative strengths, too. --David Wall

Topics covered: Data and (especially) voice communications, discussed in a detailed survey form that's ideal for engineers who are exploring alternative solutions, as well as for managers. Coverage includes the standards (both de facto and de jure) that govern equipment, plus the commercial and legal restrains that color the telecommunications environment further.

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