Telecom Convergence, 2/e

Acknowledgments Foreword Preface INTRODUCTION Beginnings: What Do We Know? So, Why Did the Crash Occur? Evolution Aftermath The Pivot Point: Customer Value and How to Measure It So, What's the Answer? PART ONE: THE TECHNOLOGIES Introduction The Internet's Influence Is Far from Over The Software Industry Will Take on a More Critical Role as the Players Evolve Optical Technology Will Be the Next Big Techno-hero--Again The Functional Migration from the Core of the Network to the Edge is Underway In Spite of the Hype, 3G Wireless Doesn't Cut It Mobile Appliances Will Become a Significant Marketplace The Computer and Pheripheral Device Industry Segment Will Evolve in Strange and Wonderful Ways The Metro Environment Will Become a Powerful Marketplace in the Next Three to Five Years The Semiconductor Industry's Influence Will Grow Substantially and Products Will Become More Application Specific Network Management (NM) Will Take on an Increasingly Important Role Convergence: the Technologies Access Technologies Traditional Access Technologies Marketplace Realities 56-Kbps Modems Just Out: V.92 ISDN The Technology The Basic Rate Interface (BRI) AO/DI The Primary Rate Interface (PRI) PBX Applications Videoconferencing Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) In Support of the Remote Agent T-Carrier and Voice Digitization The Nature of Voice Voice Digitization Alternative Digitization Techniques Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation (ADPCM) Continuously Variable Slope Delta (CVSD) Linear Predictive Coding (LPC) Digital Speech Interpolation (DSI) Framing and Formatting in T-1 Cable-Based Access Technologies The Broadband Balkans The Cable Network Next-Generation Cable Systems Hybrid Fiber Coax Systems (HFC) Cable Modems Data over Cable Standards Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) ADSL Modulation Techniques Crosstalk Issues DMT CAP DSL Services ADSL A Word About the DSLAM High Bit Rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL) G-Lite SHDSL DSL Market Issues Provider Challenges Solutions Preventative Network Architecture Issues Loop Length Crosstalk and Background Noise Down the Road DSL Summary Wireless Access Technologies The Special Case of Premises Access Contention-based LANs Distributed Polling LANs Wireless Ethernet: 802.11 The Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA) Bluetooth WAP The Mobile Appliance Access Technologies Summary Transport Technologies Clouds The Evolution of Transport Point-to-Point Architectures High-Bandwidth Wireless Services High-Bandwidth Wired Services Optical Systems Optical Fiber Types SONET Other SONET Advantages SONET Architectures WDM How it Works Fiber Transmission Issues and Concerns A Word About Optical Switching Other Switching Solutions SONET versus DWDM: A Technology Battle Point-to-Point Technologies Summary Switched Technologies Circuit Switching Packet Switching Connectionless Packet-Switched Service Connecition-Oriented Packet-Switched Service Fast Packet Services Frame Relay Service Granularity in Frame Relay Congestion Control in Frame Relay Frame Relay Summary ATM So: Why ATM? The ATM Market Alternatives to ATM ATM Summary IP Why IP? Making it Happen IP/ATM Integration Summary PART TWO: COMPANY CONVERGENCE The Players in the Game Will Continue to Evolve A New Regulatory Environment is Needed and Will Be Created Solutions E-Commerce and E-Business Will Strengthen and Mature E-Commerce Why E-Commerce? From E-Commerce to E-Business Corporate Evolution The Importance of Corporate Knowledge Data Mining An Aside: The SLA Supply-Chain Issues ERP in the Telecomm Space Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Putting It All Together The Birth of the Virtual Community Company Classifications The ILECs The CLECs The IECs The ISPs and Portals The Application Service Providers (ASPs) The Managed Service Providers (MSPs) The Cable Providers The Equipment Manufacturers Everybody Else And the Point Is...? Company Convergence: Lucent Technologies Company Convergence: Cisco Company Convergence: AOL The Special Case of the ILECs The Missing Link The Virtual Corporation: Supporting Technologies Enabling the Virtual Private Network (VPN) The Evolving Computer Storage Area Networks (SANs) The Need for Mobility Thinning the Computer Herd Summary PART THREE: SERVICES CONVERGENCE Services Convergence The Services Viewing the Network: Inside Out or Outside In? The Evolution of IP Telephony Emerging QoS Protocols Service and Protocol Interoperability Signaling in VoIP Environments IP Telephony Summary VoIP Implementation Summary Network Management for QoS Implementing IP Services Carrier-Class IP Voice Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs) and Private Corporate Gateways Clearinghouse Services IP-Enabled Call Centers Integrating the PBX Billing as a Critical Service Summary PART FOUR: REDEFINING THE SERVICE PROVIDER Beginnings Moving Forward Conclusion COMMON INDUSTRY ACRONYMS INDEX