Broadband networks, such as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), frame relay, and leased lines, allow us to easily access multimedia services (data, voice, and video) in one package. Exploring why broadband networks are important in modern-day telecommunications, Introduction to Broadband Communication Systems covers the concepts and components of bot

This is an elementary textbook on an advanced topic: broadband telecommunica tion networks. I must declare at the outset that this book is not primarily intended for an audience of telecommunication specialists who are weIl versed in the concepts, system architectures, and underlying technologies of high-speed, multi media, bandwidth-on-demand, packet-switching networks, although the techni caIly sophisticated telecommunication practitioner may wish to use it as a refer ence. Nor is this book intended to be an advanced textbook on the subject of broadband networks. Rather, this book is primarily intended for those eager to leam more about this exciting fron tier in the field of telecommunications, an audience that includes systems designers, hardware and software engineers, en gineering students, R&D managers, and market planners who seek an understand ing of local-, metropolitan-, and wide-area broadband networks for integrating voice, data, image, and video. Its primary audience also includes researchers and engineers from other disciplines or other branches of telecommunications who anticipate a future involvement in, or who would simply like to leam more about, the field of broadband networks, along with scientific researchers and corporate telecommunication and data communication managers whose increasingly sophis ticated applications would benefit from (and drive the need for) broadband net works. Advanced topics are certainly not ignored (in fact, a plausible argument could be mounted that aIl of the material is advanced, given the infancy of the topic).

A scientific overview of current and future satellite systems for mobile and broadband communications. In part I, the fundamentals of geostationary and non-geostationary satellite constellations and the related questions of communications technology are treated. Part II deals with satellite systems for mobile communications and treats several network features as well as their technology, regulation and financing. Part III is devoted to future satellite systems for broadband communications and explains the specialities of satellite communications, particularly on the basis of ATM and TCP/IP. An extensive survey on operating and planned satellite systems completes the book.

The pioneers of Flash-OFDM present OFDMA from first principles, enabling readers to apply theory to practice and understand mobile broadband.

This book provides the engineer and manager with a very good understanding of the processes needed to effectively perform the system design for broadband communication systems and home networking approaches. It is ideal for all engineers that design and analyze wireless, spread spectrum and basic broadband communication systems and are involved with the design of basic networking systems. It provides a good intuitive approach starting from basic telephony to satellite communications.