Network and Switching Theory

The rapid development of optical fiber transmission technology has created the possibility for constructing digital networks that are as ubiquitous as the current voice network but which can carry video, voice, and data in massive qlJantities. How and when such networks will evolve, who will pay for them, and what new applications will use them is anyone's guess. There appears to be no doubt, however, that the trend in telecommunication networks is toward far greater transmission speeds and toward greater heterogeneity in the requirements of different applications. This book treats some of the central problems involved in these networks of the future. First, how does one switch data at speeds orders of magnitude faster than that of existing networks? This problem has roots in both classical switching for telephony and in switching for packet networks. There are a number of new twists here, however. The first is that the high speeds necessitate the use of highly parallel processing and place a high premium on computational simplicity. The second is that the required data speeds and allowable delays of different applications differ by many orders of magnitude. The third is that it might be desirable to support both point to point applications and also applications involving broadcast from one source to a large set of destinations.

For telecommunications engineers and researchers looking to learn about broadband networks based on the ATM standard, no other book combines the analysis of ATM theory, architecture, and performance in a single volume.

Since the publication of the first edition of Fundamentals of Digital Switching in 1983, there has been substantial improvement in digital switching technology and in digital networks. Packet switching has advanced from a low-speed data-oriented switching approach into a robust broadband technology which supports services ranging from low-speed data to video. This technology has eclipsed the flexibility of circuit switching. Fiber optic cable has advanced since the first edition and has substantially changed the technology of transmission. to research in optical devices to find a still better means of This success has led switching. Digital switching systems continue to benefit from the 100-fold improvement in the capabilities of semiconductor devices which has occurred during the past decade. The chip industry forecasts a similar escalation in complexity during the next 10 years. Networks of switching systems have changed due to regulatory policy reform in many nations, including the breakup of the Bell System in the United States, the introduction of new types of carriers in Japan, competition in the United Kingdom, and a reexamination of public policy in virtually all nations. Standards bodies have been productive in specifying new capabilities for future networks involving interactive and distributive services through STM and A TM technologies.