Communication Networks

Preface

The purpose of this open book project is to provide a free text book about electrical (digital or analog) communication networks. It will be an accompaniment to the Communication Systems book, but will focus more on real-world implementation and less on mathematical theory. See the introduction section for more details.

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Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Authors
• Licensing

Networks

• History of Networking
• Network Basics
• Network Topologies
• Cellular Networks
• Duplex Networks

Analog Networks

• Circuit Switching Networks
• Cable Television Network
• Radio Communications

Physical Medium and Digital Communications

• Local Loop
• Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
• Cable

Digital Networks

• Parallel vs Serial
• Channels
• OSI Reference Model
• Error Control, Flow Control, Medium Access Control (MAC)
• Ethernet and Link Switching
• Internet
• Wireless Internet

Hybrid Networks

• Analog and Digital Telephony
• Analog and Digital Radio
• Analog and Digital TV

Routing and Packet Switching

• IP Tables
• Routing

Network Protocols and Applications

• Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)
• Internet Protocol (IP) and Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
• Ping and Traceroute
• TCP and UDP Protocols
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
• Network Address Translation (NAT) and Port Address Translation (PAT) Protocols
• Domain Name System (DNS)
• Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
• Ethereal (packet sniffer)

Network APIs

• Berkeley Socket API

Advanced Channels

• Multipathing
• Fading Channels

Resources

• Glossary
• Resources