It is always confusing, and perhaps inconvenient at times, using generic terms that will mean something to everyone but different things to different people. "High Performance" is one of those terms. High Performance can be viewed as synonymous to High Speed or Low Latency or a number of other characteristics. The interesting thing is that such ambiguity can sometimes be useful in a world where focus shifts quite easily from one issue to another as times and needs evolve. Many things have changed since the first HPN conference held in Aachen, Germany in 1987. The focus then was mainly on Media Access Control (MAC) protocols that allow users to share the high bandwidth of optical fiber. FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) was making its debut with its amazing 100 Mbps speed. ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) and SONET (the Synchronous Optical Network) were beginning to capture our imagination. What could users possibly do with such "high performance"? Share it! After realizing that the real problems had gradually shifted away from the network media to the periphery of the network, focus also began to shift. Adapter design, protocol implementation, and communication systems architecture began to attract our interest. Networking -not Networks-became the hot issue.

The present information age is enabled by telecommunications and information technology and the continued convergence of their services, technologies and business models. Within telecommunications, the historic separations between fixed networks, mobile telephone networks and data communications are diminishing. Similarly, information technology and enterprise communications show convergence with telecommunications. These synergies are captured in the concept of Next Generation Networks that result from evolution to new technologies, enabling new services and applications. Network Convergence creates a framework to aid the understanding of Next Generation Networks, their potential for supporting new and enhanced applications and their relationships with legacy networks. The book identifies and explains the concepts and principles underlying standards for networks, services and applications. Network Convergence: Gives comprehensive coverage of packet multimedia, enterprise networks, third generation mobile communications, OSA/Parlay and developments in fixed networks. Gives an integrated view of diverse information and communications systems and technology through a common NGN Framework. Delves into protocols, APIs and software processes for supporting services and applications in advanced networks. Discusses a variety of applications of telecommunications supporting IT and IT enhanced by communications. Follows developments in operations support systems standards and links these to next generation networks. Includes a wealth of examples, use cases, tables and illustrations that help reinforce the material for students and practitioners. Features an accompanying website with PowerPoint presentations, glossary, web references, tutorial problems, and 'learn more' pages. This essential reference guide will prove invaluable to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, academics and researchers. It will also be of interest to professionals working for telecommunications network operators, equipment vendors, telecoms regulators, and engineers who wish to further their knowledge of next generation networks.

Acquiring Task-Based Knowledge and Specifications to Seek Time Evaluation

The IFIP International Working Conference on Intelligent Networks '95 was held at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in Copenhagen. The conference was organised jointly by the Center for Tete-Information at DTU and Tele Danmark Research! during August 30-31 1995 and was hosted by the Center for Tete-Information. The conference was sponsored by IFIP TC6. The papers contained in this book are edited versions of the papers from the conference and some of the tutorial presentations that were arranged prior to the conference. The mixture of tutorial papers and conference papers gives a broad and yet thorough coverage of activities and central areas of development in the IN world at this point in time. Future developments, especially in the area of extended mobility support and multimedia capabilities, are also pre sented. BACKGROUND The theme of the conference was the two major trends in Intelligent Networks (IN) develop ment: • ITU and ETSI based IN standards, such as CS-1 and the upcoming CS-2 and • long term development as undertaken by, for example, the TINA consortium and the Euro pean RACE and ACTS programmes. The present IN technology based on capability sets is on its way into the networks, and opera tors are pushing for open platforms to be deployed in the networks in the near future in order to obtain greater freedom in selecting platforms for service provisioning.

Introduces the principles of signalling systems and examines their architectures. Modern signalling systems are described in detail, including Signalling System Number Seven and the Digital Subscriber Systems, while older systems are outlined in the appendices. Chapters cover mobile, intelligent, and private networks, as well as signalling interworking, the role in network management, and meeting broadband requirements. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Despite the growing interest in Real-Time Database Systems, there is no single book that acts as a reference to academics, professionals, and practitioners who wish to understand the issues involved in the design and development of RTDBS. Real-Time Database Systems: Issues and Applications fulfills this need. This book presents the spectrum of issues that may arise in various real-time database applications, the available solutions and technologies that may be used to address these issues, and the open problems that need to be tackled in the future. With rapid advances in this area, several concepts have been proposed without a widely accepted consensus on their definitions and implications. To address this need, the first chapter is an introduction to the key RTDBS concepts and definitions, which is followed by a survey of the state of the art in RTDBS research and practice. The remainder of the book consists of four sections: models and paradigms, applications and benchmarks, scheduling and concurrency control, and experimental systems. The chapters in each section are contributed by experts in the respective areas. Real-Time Database Systems: Issues and Applications is primarily intended for practicing engineers and researchers working in the growing area of real-time database systems. For practitioners, the book will provide a much needed bridge for technology transfer and continued education. For researchers, this book will provide a comprehensive reference for well-established results. This book can also be used in a senior or graduate level course on real-time systems, real-time database systems, and database systems or closely related courses.

This volume contains the proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Advanced Teleservices and High-Speed Communication Architectures (IWACA '94), held in Heidelberg, Germany in September 1994. The IWACA Workshop is a platform for the exchange among researchers and developers from both the multimedia applications and the high-speed telecommunication communities. The book presents revised versions of the 36 papers accepted for presentation at the workshop. They cover several aspects of multimedia applications and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and focus on ATM-LANs and ATM for the wide area high-performance network of the future.