Communications & networking : An introdu ction

'Communications and Networking' provides a clear and easy to follow treatment of the subject, written specifically for undergraduates who have no previous experience in the field. The author takes a step by step approach, with many examples and exercises designed to give the reader experience and increase confidence by using and designing communications systems. Written by a lecturer with many years' experience teaching undergraduate programmes, the text takes the reader through the essentials of networking and provides a comprehensive, reliable and thorough treatment of the subject. The author's website provides further material in the form of solutions, further examples and other relevant subject matter.

Introduction.- Communications Technologies.- Networking Models and Standards.- Local Area Networks.- Wide Area Networks.- Network Protocols.- Internet Application Layer Protocols.- Network Security.- Network Management.- Wireless Networks.- Appendix A: TCP/IP packet format illustrations.- Appendix B: Glossary

From the reviews:"Cowley's book touches all the bases, more of them, in fact, than most similar books, and does so in a mere 230 pages, including two appendices and an index. ... The chief beneficiaries of a book like this would seem to be managers and interested laymen who want a high-level overview of 'networks' without having to go into any detail. The work is well written and will be ... interest to these groups." (G. M. White, ACM Computing Reviews, Vol. 49 (2), February, 2008)