This book provides a broad introduction to all aspects of modern telecommunications networks, covering the principles of operation of the technology and the way that networks using this technology are structured. The main focus is on those technologies in use today and the next generation networks (NGN) and how they will be implemented.

For decades, a new type of terrorism has been quietly gathering ranks in the world. America's ability to remain oblivious to these new movements ended on September 11, 2001. The Islamist fanatics in the global Salafi jihad (the violent, revivalist social movement of which al Qaeda is a part) target the West, but their operations mercilessly slaughter thousands of people of all races and religions throughout the world. Marc Sageman challenges conventional wisdom about terrorism, observing that the key to mounting an effective defense against future attacks is a thorough understanding of the networks that allow these new terrorists to proliferate. Based on intensive study of biographical data on 172 participants in the jihad, Understanding Terror Networks gives us the first social explanation of the global wave of activity. Sageman traces its roots in Egypt, gestation in Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan war, exile in the Sudan, and growth of branches worldwide, including detailed accounts of life within the Hamburg and Montreal cells that planned attacks on the United States. U.S. government strategies to combat the jihad are based on the traditional reasons an individual was thought to turn to terrorism: poverty, trauma, madness, and ignorance. Sageman refutes all these notions, showing that, for the vast majority of the mujahedin, social bonds predated ideological commitment, and it was these social networks that inspired alienated young Muslims to join the jihad. These men, isolated from the rest of society, were transformed into fanatics yearning for martyrdom and eager to kill. The tight bonds of family and friendship, paradoxically enhanced by the tenuous links between the cell groups (making it difficult for authorities to trace connections), contributed to the jihad movement's flexibility and longevity. And although Sageman's systematic analysis highlights the crucial role the networks played in the terrorists' success, he states unequivocally that the level of commitment and choice to embrace violence were entirely their own. Understanding Terror Networks combines Sageman's scrutiny of sources, personal acquaintance with Islamic fundamentalists, deep appreciation of history, and effective application of network theory, modeling, and forensic psychology. Sageman's unique research allows him to go beyond available academic studies, which are light on facts, and journalistic narratives, which are devoid of theory. The result is a profound contribution to our understanding of the perpetrators of 9/11 that has practical implications for the war on terror.

Dark networks are the illegal and covert networks (e.g, insurgents, jihadi groups, or drug cartels) that security and intelligence analysts must track and identify to be able to disrupt and dismantle them. This text explains how this can be done by using the Social Network Analysis (SNA) method. Written in an accessible manner, it provides an introduction to SNA, presenting tools and concepts, and showing how SNA can inform the crafting of a wide array of strategies for the tracking and disrupting of dark networks.

Information networking has emerged as a multidisciplinary diversified area of research over the past few decades. From traditional wired telephony to cellular voice telephony and from wired access to wireless access to the Internet, information networks have profoundly impacted our lifestyles as they have undergone enormous growth. To understand this technology, students need to learn several disciplines and develop an intuitive feeling of how they interact with one another. To achieve this goal, the book describes important networking standards, classifying their underlying technologies in a logical manner and gives detailed examples of successful applications.The emergence of wireless access and dominance of the Ethernet in LAN technologies has shifted the innovations in networking towards the physical layer and characteristics of the medium. This book pays attention to the physical layer while we provide fundamentals of information networking technologies which are used in wired and wireless networks designed for local and wide area operations. The book provides a comprehensive treatment of the wired IEEE802.3 Ethernet, and Internet as well as ITU cellular 2G-6G wireless networks, IEEE 802.11 for Wi-Fi, and IEEE 802.15 for Bluetooth, ZigBee and ultra-wideband (UWB) technologies. The novelty of the book is that it places emphasis on physical communications issues related to formation and transmission of packets and characteristics of the medium for transmission in variety of networks.Material presented in the book will be beneficial for students of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or other disciplines who are interested in integration of navigation into their multi-disciplinary projects. The book provides examples with supporting MATLAB codes and hands-on projects throughout to improve the ability of the readers to understand and implement variety of algorithms.

Understanding Criminal Networks is a short methodological primer for those interested in studying illicit, deviant, covert, or criminal networks using social network analysis (SNA). Accessibly written by Gisela Bichler, a leading expert in SNA for dark networks, the book is chock-full of graphics, checklists, software tips, step-by-step guidance, and straightforward advice. Covering all the essentials, each chapter highlights three themes: the theoretical basis of networked criminology, methodological issues and useful analytic tools, and producing professional analysis. Unlike any other book on the market, the book combines conceptual and empirical work with advice on designing networking studies, collecting data, and analysis. Relevant, practical, theoretical, and methodologically innovative, Understanding Criminal Networks promises to jumpstart readers’ understanding of how to cross over from conventional investigations of crime to the study of criminal networks.

Understanding Neural Networks is a textbook and workbook that provides an interactive learning environment. With or without the aid of a classroom instructor, it allows students and other users to learn about neural networks while gaining practical, hands-on experience with all of the leading network models. Each model is presented as realistically as possible. Also included are chapter exercises and questions, many with illustrations.

Thoroughly updated for currency, this book offers a clear presentation of data communications and network fundamentals. Featuring a wide array of applications, the book fully explains concepts and supports them with case studies or descriptions of specific software and other products. Students learn the protocols of analog and digital signals, data compression, data integrity, data security, local area networks, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and much more. The third edition includes important information on the latest developments of the Internet.