BKISFRAT.RVW   990513

"ISDN and Broadband ISDN with Frame Relay and ATM", William Stallings,
1999, 0-13-973744-8
%A   William Stallings ws@shore.net
%C   One Lake St., Upper Saddle River, NJ   07458
%D   1999
%G   0-13-973744-8
%I   Prentice Hall
%O   800-576-3800 416-293-3621 201-236-7139 fax: 201-236-7131
%P   542 p.
%T   "ISDN and Broadband ISDN with Frame Relay and ATM"

When Stallings' name is on the cover, you generally know two things:
1)  the book is a textbook.
2)  the book is a classic reference in the field.

Chapter one is an introduction, both to the book as a whole, and to
the drive towards broadband communications.

Part one is an overview of the basic concepts in digital
communications.  Chapter two looks at analogue and digital
information.  The problems and protocols of the subscriber line are
reviewed in chapter three.  The fundamental ideas of networking are
explored in chapter four.

Part two turns to the specifics of ISDN (Integrated Services Digital
Network) itself.  Chapter five lays out the foundations for ISDN,
making a number of points that generally get lost in the "gee whiz"
over high speed Internet access.  The architecture and components are
given in chapter six.  Details are provided, in chapters seven to
eleven, on the physical layer, data link layer, network layer,
services, and Signalling System Number 7.

The relation of frame relay to ISDN is discussed in part three. 
Chapter twelve talks about frame mode architecture, and the reduction
in overhead as compared to packet switching such as X.25.  Congestion
is a part of any packet network, and chapter thirteen looks at the
various answers provided by frame relay.

Part four moves on to broadband ISDN.  The overall architecture is
reviewed in chapter fourteen.  Chapter fifteen looks in detail at the
protocols, starting to consider ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) and
SONET (Synchronous Optical Network).

Part five deals more particularly with ATM.  Chapter sixteen deals
with components and performance.  Traffic and congestion issues are
covered in chapter seventeen.

Ancillary material for use in a course is well prepared and presented. 
Most chapters have a summary, suggestions for further reading, and
exercises.  The questions are well thought out, and sometimes very
thought provoking indeed.  Some chapters have appendices, giving
additional content related to the topic at hand.  A Web page at
http://www.shore.net/~ws/ISDN4e.html provides further elements for use
by instructors.

Solid coverage of a hot topic.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKISFRAT.RVW   990513