Telecommunications and Data Communications Handbook (eBook)

Ray Horak held management and executive management positions with Southwestern Bell, Continental Telephone Company (CONTEL), and Communications Group Inc. An independent consultant and popular speaker, trainer, author, columnist, and writer, he is the author of the bestselling Communications Systems and Networks, published most recently by Wiley and now in its third edition. Mr. Horak teaches seminars around the world on a variety of telecommunications subjects. He also has considerable experience as a consulting technical expert and expert witness in litigation involving patents, copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property matters.

"I found the book to be a well written wealth of knowledge."
(ACUTA Journal of Communications Technology in Higher
Education, Summer 2008)

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Ray Horak's book,
Telecommunications and Data Communications Handbook. The
book's 791 pages, divided into 15 chapters, cover everything
from legacy technology such as basic telephone switching to leading
edge technologies such as DWDM optical networks, 3G wireless
networks, and IPTV converged video. I have read other Horak books
in the past, but this one is the most comprehensive one that he has
done to date.

The book appears to be best suited as either a text book for a
telecommunications class or a reference book. Using Texas
terminology, the book is a mile wide but not very deep. You would
be hard pressed to find a topic that was not discussed in the
almost 800 pages of the book, but most topics are covered in less
than one page. It is an encyclopedic work, not the reference that
you would use if you needed a comprehensive understanding of any
specific technology. On the other hand, if one of your peers brings
up a new technology during the course of a conversation (for
example MMS), and you want to know what he or she is talking about
to avoid appearing uninformed, this book could prove to be
invaluable. In other words, it doesn't paint the whole
picture in high resolution, but it provides a lot more than a
snapshot.

A few of the topics that I found of the most interest included the
sections on Broadband over Power Line (BPL), HiperLAN, VDSL, IEEE
802.16 WiMAX and IPTV. There are a few topics that I would like to
have seen covered that were not, but this leaves open the
opportunity for the next edition.

Overall, I found the book to be a well written wealth of knowledge.
I plan to use it as the text for my undergraduate course in
telecommunications in the spring.

--Reviewed by Walt Magnussen, Director of Telecommunications,
Texas A&M University (ACUTA: Journal of Communications
Technology in Higher Education, Summer 2008)

"If you can have one book on voice and data communications, this
is the book to have." (The Prepaid Press, May 14th,
2008)

"The book is very well written and accessible to the average
reader." (Computing Reviews, May 6, 2008)

"Readers wanting to gain insight into the terminology of the
field would be advised to consult this outstanding reference book."
(American Reference Books Annual, March 2008)

"A must-have acquisition for both beginners and
practioners...highly recommended." (CHOICE, February
2008)