Completely updated: The telecommunications sourcebook for Knowledge Workers. The communications revolution continues to overwhelm users with wave after wave of innovation. Understanding these constantly evolving technologies is crucial for the knowledge workers-part business people, part computer scientists, and part engineers-who develop and implement communications strategies for businesses and governments around the world. Building on the groundwork of the first edition, Telecommunications Primer, Second Edition, has been fully updated and expanded by more than 40 percent to encompass all the latest advances in the field. Special sections have been added to cover: * Growth of Internet, intranet, and extranet applications. * Scalability and network management in distributed systems. * Advances in digital and cellular systems in North America, Europe, and Asia. *Intercontinental fiber optic networks with wavelength-division multiplexing. * Asynchronous Transfer Mode and developments in switching and routing protocols. * The 1996 Telecommunications Act. Like the first edition, Telecommunications Primer, Second Edition is organized in three parts: * Signals: The forms in which messaAbout the Author: E. BRYAN CARNE has more than 35 years of experience in engineering, manufacturing, and marketing for telecommunications. Since his retirement from GTE, he has served on the faculties of Northeastern University in Boston and Christian Brothers University in Memphis. He is also the author of Telecommunications Topics, Applications of Functions, and Probabilities in Electronic Communication (Prentice Hall PTR).