Multimedia Communications and Networking

The result of decades of research and international project experience, Multimedia Communications and Networking provides authoritative insight into recent developments in multimedia, digital communications, and networking services and technologies. Supplying you with the required foundation in these areas, it illustrates the means that will allow for improved digital communications and networks.

The book starts with a review of the fundamental concepts, requirements, and constraints in networks and telecommunications. It describes channel disturbances that can hinder system performance―including noise, attenuation, distortion, and interferences―and provides transmission techniques for mitigating these limitations. Analyzing both cable and wireless transmission mediums, the book describes the network protocol architecture concept and includes coverage of twisted pairs, coaxial and optical fiber cables, wireless propagation, satellite communications, and terrestrial microwave systems. Facilitating the understanding required to participate in the development of current and next generation networks and services, this comprehensive reference:

• Examines the range of network interconnections and WAN/MAN technologies, including synchronous optical networks (SONET), synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH), and third and next generation cellular systems (3G and 4G)
• Describes local area network (LAN) theory and technology, including data link layers and virtual LANs
• Explores network and transport layers, such as addressing, routing protocols, and IPv4 and IPv6 algorithms
• Covers TCP/IP services and applications
• Investigates different authentication and cryptographic systems, including digital signature, SSL, TLS, IPSEC, and public key infrastructure

Walking you through the planning, design, and development of multimedia, telecommunications, and networking systems, the book provides a quick and easy way to develop and refine the skills required in the field. It clearly explains the principles and corresponding techniques you need to know to implement network security. The many examples and end-of-chapter questions also make it suitable for undergraduate and graduate-level computer science and electrical engineering courses.

Mario Marques da Silva is a professor at Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa (CESITI) and at Escola Naval Portuguesa (CINAV). He is a researcher at the Portuguese Instituto de Telecomunicações. He received his BSc in electrical engineering in 1992 and MSc and PhD degrees in telecommunications/electrical engineering, respectively, in 1999 and 2005, both from the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa. Between 2005 and 2008, he was with NATO Air Command Control & Management Agency (NACMA) in Brussels (Belgium), where he managed the deployable communications of the new Air Command and Control System Program. He has been involved in several telecommunications projects, either as a researcher or as project leader, including involvement in activities such as research, architecture, development, analysis, simulation and testing of networking, HF, V/UHF, satellite and cellular/UMTS communications systems. His research interests include networking (e.g., TCP/IP, network security, mobile ad-hoc networking) and mobile communications, including block transmission techniques (OFDM, SC-FDE), WCDMA, multiuser detection, interference cancellation, space–time coding, MIMO systems, smart and adaptive antennas, channel estimation, and software-defined radio. He is the author of Transmission Techniques for Emergent Multicast and Broadcast Systems (CRC Press) and of several dozen journal and conference papers. Mario Marques da Silva is member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a member of Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), as well as a reviewer of many international scientific journals and conferences.