Data and Computer Communications, 10th Edition

Book Preface

What’s New in The Tenth Edition

Since the ninth edition of this book went to press, the pace of change in this field continues unabated. In this new edition, I try to capture these changes while maintaining a broad and comprehensive coverage of the entire field. To begin the process of revision, the ninth edition of this book was extensively reviewed by a number of professors who teach the subject and by professionals working in the field. The result is that, in many places, the narrative has been clarified and tightened, and illustrations have been improved. Beyond these refinements to improve pedagogy and user friendliness, there have been major substantive changes throughout the book. The chapter organization has been changed somewhat so that now the material is organized into two Units, with Unit Two containing more advanced material and an expansion of the material related to the Internet. Beyond this organizational revision, the most noteworthy changes include the following:

• Sockets programming: A new section introduces sockets programming. Plus a number of sockets programming assignments, with sample solutions, are available for instructors.

• Software-defined networks: A new section covers this widely used technology.

• Wireless transmission technology: The book provides a unified treatment of important transmission technologies for wireless networks, including FDD, TDD, FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, OFDM, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and MIMO.

• 4G cellular networks: A new section covers 4G networks and the LTEAdvanced specification.

• Gigabit Wi-Fi: A new section covers the two new Wi-Fi standards, IEEE 802.11ac and 802.11ad, which provide Wi-Fi in the Gbps range.

• Fixed broadband wireless access: New sections cover fixed broadband wireless access to the Internet and the related WiMAX standard.

• Forward error correction: Forward error correction techniques are essential in wireless networks. This new edition contains substantially expanded coverage of this important topic.

• Personal area networks: New sections cover personal area networks and the Bluetooth standard.

• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP): DHCP is a widely used protocol that enables dynamic IP address assignment. A new section covers this protocol.

• Datagram Congestion Control Protocol: DCCP is a new protocol that meets the needs of multimedia applications for a congestion control transport protocol without the overhead of TCP. A new section covers DCCP.

• Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM): PIM, the most important Internet multicast routing algorithm, is covered in a new section.

• Quality of service (QoS) architectural framework: A new section covers ITU-T Recommendation Y.1291, which provides an overall framework for provision of Internet QoS facilities.

• Electronic mail: The section on e-mail in Chapter 24 has been expanded to include a discussion of the standard Internet mail architecture.

• Animations: As a powerful aid to understanding the material, over 150 online animations are provided covering a wide range of topics from the book. An icon at the beginning of many chapters indicates that supporting animations are available to enhance the student’s understanding.

• Learning objectives: Each chapter now begins with a list of learning objectives.

• Sample syllabus: The text contains more material than can be conveniently covered in one semester. Accordingly, instructors are provided with several sample syllabi that guide the use of the text within limited time (e.g., 16 weeks or 12 weeks). These samples are based on real-world experience by professors with the ninth edition.

In addition, the material that carries over from the ninth edition has been revised, with new figures and revised and updated content.