Fundamentals of Communications and Information Systems

As the use of information gathered across communications networks becomes all-pervasive in the office, factory and home, a basic understanding of the underlying technology is becoming ever more important. Fundamentals of Communications and Information Systems sets out to explain the basic technology of communications and information systems.

While it provides technical descriptions of the operation of communications and information systems, this book is not aimed primarily at the technical reader. Rather, it aims to provide an accessible source of information for the lay reader, but without resorting to explanations that are either trivial or misleading. Electrical engineers may find this book useful, however, as a complement to the mathematical explanations of communications technology emphasised in university engineering courses.

As the use of information gathered across communications networks becomes all-pervasive in the office, factory and home, a basic understanding of the underlying technology is becoming ever more important. This book sets out to explain the basic technology of communications and information systems.

The first part of the book (Chapters 1 through 12) covers basic communications technology. Chapter 1 sets up a basic structure for a communications system, with each of the following chapters explaining the operation of one block. This ensures that the whole operation of the system from the information source to its final destination is covered, including source coding, encryption, channel coding, modulation, multiplexing and multiple access. The operation of radio transmitters and receivers is described in Chapter 9. Chapters 10 and 11 describe the major communications channels currently in use, with Chapter 10 concentrating on cable-based transmission and Chapter 11 on radio wave propagation. Finally, Chapter 12 describes the operation of antennas.

The second part of the book (Chapters 13 through 15) is concerned with the construction of networks, which are based on the basic technologies described in the first part of the book. Chapter 13 describes the three basic types of communications systems: simplex, half duplex and full duplex, before discussing the basic concepts of switching. Chapters 14 and 15 describe the operation of communications networks, with Chapter 14 concentrating on local area networks, with Chapter 15 extending these concepts to wide area networks and internetworking.

Chapters 16 and 17 look at two important practical example of communications systems: mobile communications systems (which concentrates on cellular mobile telephone networks) and satellite communications. Each of these chapters builds on the concepts of the first 15 chapters.

Chapters 18 through 22 describe the operation of the information systems that provide the source and destination for most information carried on modern communications networks. Chapter 18 introduces a model for information management. Chapter 19 describes the basic architecture of information systems, leading to more specific descriptions of operating systems and software in Chapters 20 and 21. The operation of databases, arguably the most important application provided by information systems, is described in Chapter 22.

While it provides technical descriptions of the operation of communications and information systems, this book is not aimed primarily at the technical reader. Rather, it aims to provide an accessible source of information for the lay reader, but without resorting to explanations that are either trivial or misleading. Electrical engineers may find this book useful, however, as a complement to the mathematical explanations of communications technology emphasised in university engineering courses.