6th edition • published 2022
7" x 10" softcover or hardcover textbook • 550 pages • printed in color
ISBN 9781894887113 (softcover) • ISBN 9781894887120 (hardcover)
Free preview available via the Amazon "look inside" function
eBook (ISBN 9781894887137) available from:
All Major Telecommunications Topics covered ... in Plain English. Packed with up-to-date information and covering all major topics. Telecom 101 is an authoritative day-to-day reference and an invaluable textbook on telecom.
Updated and revised throughout, Telecom 101: Sixth Edition includes the materials from the most recent version of Teracom's popular Course 101 Broadband, Telecom, Datacom and Networking for Non-Engineers, and more topics.
Telecom 101 serves as the study guide for the TCO, Telecommunications Certification Organization, Certified Telecommunications Analyst (CTA) certification, including all required material for the CTA Certification Exam, except the security module.
Telecom 101 brings you completeness, consistency and unbeatable value in one volume.
Our philosophy is simple: Start at the beginning. Proceed in a logical order. Build concepts one on top of another. Speak in plain English. Avoid jargon.
Knowledge and understanding to last a lifetime... Build a solid base of structured knowledge and fill in the gaps. Cut through the doubletalk, demystify the jargon, bust the buzzwords. Understand how everything fits together!
The ideal book for anyone needing an understanding of the major topics in telecom, IP, data communications, and networking. Clear, concise, organized knowledge ... available in one place!
The sixth edition is totally updated for the 2020s based on the material from Course 101: Broadband, Telecom, Datacom and Networking for Non-Engineering Professionals, Teracom's instructor-led course, tuned and refined over 20 plus years.
Bringing the converged IP telecom network, broadband Internet, cloud computing, data centers and web services to the forefront, this book presents the necessary core knowledge set for anyone serious in telecom.
It is written for anyone new to telecom, getting up to speed, filling in gaps, and for everyone who does not have an Engineering degree specializing in telecommunications. We focus on demystifying buzzwords and jargon and create a structured understanding of telecom including, most importantly, the underlying ideas, plus the technologies and services - and how they fit together.
The knowledge in this book draws from more than 30 years of experience in telecom, working in jobs for telephone companies such as a Junior R&D Engineer and systems engineer; a consultant preparing telecom R&D tax credit claims; plus teaching many private courses for carriers onsite.
This book's style, the material included, the ordering and pacing, and even the jokes, are the result of instructing hundreds and hundreds of 2 and 3 day courses on these topics over 20+ years.
This book is the result. Telecom 101 is the course materials for the 3 day instructor-led course, augmented with substantial additional material, and available in softcover or hardcover textbook and ebook.
Telecom 101 is designed as a textbook, building one concept on another sequentially like the instructor-led course. It is also designed as a valuable day-to-day reference book and glossary.
Written by Eric Coll, M.Eng., our top instructor, Telecom 101 distills and organizes 30 years of learning and knowledge into a practical day-to-day reference book and invaluable study guide for non-Engineers.
Below in the chapter list and detailed table of contents, you will see that Telecom 101 is like many self-contained reference books with chapters on specific topics such as Internet, Wireless, IP, LANs and MPLS.
Instead of having to purchase multiple books from different authors to explain each of these topics, you get them all, bound in a single volume, in a consistent style and quality, for one low price.
An investment that will pay off many times over with career and productivity enhancement.
Order today to obtain this invaluable reference!
Other Books Available: CTNS Certification Study Guide, CWA Certification Study Guide, CVA Certification Study Guide
Telecom 101 is organized in four sections: The Fundamentals, Telecom Technologies, Equipment, Carriers & Interconnect, and Networking - the core knowledge for anyone serious about telecom today.
SECTION 1: THE FUNDAMENTALS
1. BOOK INTRODUCTION
2. TELECOMMUNICATIONS INTRODUCTION
3. FUNDAMENTALS OF TELECOM
4. FUNDAMENTALS OF NETWORK
5. THE INTERNET, DATA CENTERS AND CLOUD COMPUTING
6. TELECOM SERVICES
7. DIGITAL MEDIA: TEXT, IMAGES, VIDEO, VOICE, QUANTITIES,
8. FUNDAMENTALS OF VOICE OVER IP
The first eight chapters of Telecom 101 cover the fundamentals of telecom, explaining concepts, filling gaps and creating a solid knowledge base. The introduction to the book is followed by a high-level pass of all of the topics from a big-picture view.
Progressing in a logical order, we cover provisioning of telecom circuits by carriers, telecom fundamentals, and then IP packet network fundamentals. Next is the business-side of Internet: ISPs, web services like AWS, data centers and cloud computing.
Then we review services by category: residential, business and wholesale. Next is digital media including how voice is digitized, digital text, digital images, digital video, and digital quantities. The last topic in the fundamentals is the Fundamentals of VoIP.
SECTION 2: TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES
9. WIRELESS
10. FIBER OPTICS
11. COPPER
In the second section of the book, we explore wireless, fiber and copper - the three main technologies used to transmitting information from place to place.
We cover mobile network components and operation, wireles spectrum, 4G LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, broadband home internet, fixed wireless and satellites.
Next you learn optical basics, how networks are built running Optical Ethernet with point-to-point fibers, wave-division multiplexing, and fiber in the core, metro area and to the premise.
We end with copper-wire technologies: the Legacy PSTN including DSL and POTS on twisted pair, Hybrid Fiber-Coax cable TV systems, cable modem standards, T1 and LAN cable categories.
SECTION 3: EQUIPMENT, CARRIERS & INTERCONNECT
12. TELECOM EQUIPMENT
13. CARRIERS & INTERCONNECT
In section three of the book, we explore equipment, like switches and routers which are connected to form networks using the wireless, fiber and copper described in Section 2, and the purpose and place of each.
Then we learn where and how physical connections take place between carriers to connect PSTN phone calls, CLEC services and Internet traffic.
SECTION 4: NETWORKING
14. OSI LAYERS & PROTOCOL STACKS
15. ETHERNET, LANS & VLANS
16. IP ADDRESSES, ROUTERS & NETWORKS
17. MPLS & CARRIER NETWORKS
18. WRAPPING UP
The final section of the book is devoted to IP networking. First, to provide a structure for discussion, we understand the layers of the OSI Reference Model: what the layers are, what a layer is, the functions of each, and the standard protocol for each layer.
The next chapter is on Layer 2: Ethernet and 802 standards, broadcast domains, LANs and VLANs. Then, Layer 3: IP addresses, DHCP, IP routers, Network Address Translation, public and private addresses and IPv6.
We finish by learning about MPLS, the core traffic management system, and how it is used to implement classes of service, VPNs, service integration and traffic aggregation.
We wrap up with a review from the top down of the technologies and finally peek at what is in the future for telecommunications.
APPENDICIES
A. MODULATION TECHNIQUES
B. LEGACY CHANNELIZED TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS
C. ALL ABOUT T1
D. VOICE SERVICES & JARGON
E. LEGACY DATACOM TECHNOLOGIES
F. ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS
Telecommunications is constantly changing. Technologies that were once widespread are no longer. To make room for the new, the discussion of these technologies and some related technical issues have been demoted to appendices, rather than deleted, so they are still available for those who deal with legacy technologies. The last appendix lists the acronyms and abbreviations referenced in the book.
1. Book Introduction
• Our Approach
• How the Text is Organized
• How to Use This Text
• The Three Answers
2. Telecommunications Introduction
• Telecommunications History
• Convergence
• Broadband
• Converged Telecom Network
• Network Core
• Network Protocols: IP, Ethernet and MPLS
• The Last Mile Network Access
• Anatomy of a Service
• The Network Cloud
• Network Edge Equipment
• Interconnection to Other Carriers
• Services
3. Fundamentals of Telecommunications
• Communication Circuit Model
• Terminals, Servers, Clients and Peers
• Pulses: Representing Bits on Digital Circuits
• Modems: Representing Bits in Frequency Channels
• Parallel and Serial
• Frequency-Division Multiplexing
• Time-Division Multiplexing
• Statistical Time Division Multiplexing - Efficient Sharing
• Overbooking to Reduce User Cost
4. Fundamentals of Networks
• Essential Functions of Communication
• Shared Multidrop Links: PONs, Wi-Fi, CAN-BUS, CATV
• Ethernet: Point-to-Point Links
• MAC Addresses & Data Link Frames
• Packet Networks
• Carrier IP Networks
• MAC Frames vs. IP Packets
• IP Packet Format
• UDP, TCP, Sockets and Ports
• MPLS Labels
5. The Internet
• A Network To Survive a Nuclear War
• Inter-Net Protocol
• ISPs (Internet Service Providers)
• Domain Name System
• Web Servers
• Web Clients
• Cloud Computing & Web Services
• Data Centers
• SD-WAN
• Internet VPNs
• Net Neutrality
6. Telecom Services Overview
• Residential Services
• Business Voice Services
• Business "Data" Services
• Wholesale Services
• Networks for Content Delivery
7. Digital Media: Text, Images, Video, Voice, Quantities
• Digital and Analog: What do we really mean?
• Discrete vs. Continuous Signals
• Digital Text
• Digital Images in Email: MIME
• Digital Images: JPEGs and GIFs
• Digital Video, H.264 and MPEG-4
• Voice Digitization (Analog to Digital Conversion)
• Voice Reconstruction (Digital to Analog Conversion)
• 64 kb/s G.711 Voice Digitization Standard
• Number Systems
• Binary
• Hexadecimal
8. Fundamentals of Voice over IP
• Big Picture
• Voice in IP Packets
• Business VoIP Phones
• Soft Switches / Call Managers / SIP Servers
• Media Servers e.g. Video Servers
• Gateways
• VoIP over LANs and WANs
• Primary VoIP Standards
• Broadband IP Dial Tone: The Future
9. Wireless
• Mobile Network Operation and Components
• Radio
• Spectrum
• Cellular Principles
• Second Generation: Digital
• "Voice Minutes": PSTN Phone Calls using the Phone App
• "Data Plan": Mobile Internet:
• Mobile Operators, Roaming and MVNOs
• 3G: CDMA, HSPA
• 4G/LTE: Mobile Broadband
• 5G New Radio: Enhanced Mobile Broadband and IoT Communications
• Spectrum-Sharing Summary: TDMA, FDMA, CDMA, OFDMA
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 Wireless LANs
• Fixed Wireless 3.5-GHz Broadband Home Internet
• Communication Satellites
10. Fiber Optics
• Basics of Fiber
• Fiber Optics, Fiber Cables
• Optical Wavelengths, Modes, Bands
• CWDM and DWDM: Wave-Division Multiplexing
• Optical Ethernet
• Metropolitan Area Network
• Network Core
• FTTP, FTTH (Fiber to the Premise): PONs
11. Copper
• The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
• Plain Ordinary Telephone Service (POTS)
• Analog
• Capacity Restrictions
• Analog Transmission Problems
• Network Addresses: Telephone Numbers
• DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
• DSLAMs
• FTTN Fiber to the Neighborhood, DSL to the Premise
• Standards for DSL
• FTTN and Broadband Coax to the Premise from Broadband Carriers
• Cable Modem Standards and DOCSIS
• T1, E1
• TIA-568 Categories of LAN Cable
12. Telecom Equipment
• Ethernet Switches and Routers : Broadband Network Equipment
• Broadband Customer Premise Equipment
• Soft Switches, Call Managers, SIP, IP Centrex and Hosted PBX
• Telephone Circuit Switches
• Traditional Centrex and PBX
• Gateways
13. Carriers and Interconnect
• Internet Exchanges: Internet Traffic Interconnect
• Telephone Network Architecture
• PSTN Central Offices, Switching Centers, Toll Centers
• LECs, POPs and IXCs to Implement Competition:
• CATV and Wireless Local Exchange Carriers
• CLEC: Collocations, Dark Fiber
• SS7
14. The OSI Layers and Protocol Stacks
• Standards and Protocols
• ISO Reference Model
• OSI 7-Layer Model
• Physical Layer 1: 802.3, DOCSIS, DSL, Wireless
• Data Link Layer 2: 802 MAC
• Network Layer 3: IP, MPLS
• Transport Layer 4: TCP, UDP
• Session Layer 5: POP, SIP, HTTP
• Presentation Layer 6: ASCII, Codecs, Encryption
• Application Layer 7: HTML, SMTP, English …
• Protocol Stacks
• Operation of a Protocol Stack Ukrainian Doll Analogy
• Standards Organizations
15. Ethernet, LANs, VLANs
• LAN Basics
• Ethernet, 802 Standards
• LAN Cables, Categories
• Layer 2 Switches: LAN Switches
• VLANs
16. IP Routers, Networks and Addresses
• Network Definition
• IPv4 Address Classes
• DHCP
• Classless Inter-Domain Routing and Subnets
• Assigning Subnets to Broadcast Domains
• Routers Connected with Point-to-Point Circuits: IP Network
• Routers and Customer Edge
• Private and Public IPv4 Addresses
• Network Address Translation
• UDP and TCP
• IPv6
• IPv6 Address Types and Allocation
17. MPLS and Carrier Networks
• Introduction
• Basics of Carrier Packet Networks
• Service Level Agreements
• Customer-Premise-based Provider Equipment
• Virtual Circuit Technologies
• MPLS
• MPLS and Diff-Serv to Support Class of Service
• MPLS VPN Service for Business Customers
• MPLS for Traffic Aggregation
• MPLS for Integrated Access
• Multiprotocol: VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Service)
18. Wrap Up
• Steps for Technology Deployment
• Requirements Specification
• High-Level Design
• Technology Summary
• Review of Services and Circuits
• Carrier IP Services
• Private Network
• The Future
Appendix A Modulation Techniques
• Carrier Frequencies Modulation
• ASK - Amplitude Shift Keying
• FSK - Frequency Shift Keying
• PSK - Phase Shift Keying
• QPSK - Quadrature PSK
• QAM - Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
• Constraints on Achievable Bit Rate
Appendix B Legacy Channelized Transmission Systems
• Legacy Channelized Transmission Speeds: The Digital Hierarchy
• Legacy Transmission Technologies: Digital Carrier Systems
• Framing
• ISDN
Appendix C All About T1
• T1 Applications and History
• T1 Circuit Components
• Operation
• Framing
• Line Code and Pulses: AMI
• Synchronization: Bit-Robbing
• B8ZS and 64 kb/s Clear Channels
• 56 kb/s for Data
• How T1 Is Provided
• DACS, Fractional T1 and Cross-Connects
• 1.2 kb/s to 56 kb/s Subrate Data Circuits
Appendix D Legacy Voice Jargon and Services
• Long Distance Voice Services
• Local Voice Services
Appendix E Legacy Data Communications Technologies
• Asynchronous: Start/Stop/Parity
• Frame Relay
• ATM
• X.25: Packet-Switching implemented with Virtual Circuits
Acronyms and Abbreviations
eBook (ISBN 9781894887137) available from:
Teracom Training Institute Telecommunications training, live online and in-person telecom training seminars, online self-study courses and free tutorials
Telecommunications Certification Organization How to get certified in telecommunications, wireless technology, and voip
Telecommunications in Canada The history and overview of telecommunications in Canada
