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ISDN: an introduction
Stallings W., Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., Indianapolis, IN, 1989. Type: Book (9780024154712)
Date Reviewed: Mar 1 1990

This is another of William Stallings’s well-written and well-organized books on computers and telecommunications. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the underlying technology and user-visible architecture of the integrated services digital network (ISDN), especially narrowband ISDN (NISDN). It covers four general categories: underlying technology, architecture, standards, and services. The book’s technical content on NISDN is up to date. However, the content on broadband ISDN (BISDN) can be enhanced by including some asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) protocols.

During the past few years, many switching, customer premise equipment (CPE), and software vendors have put tremendous efforts into the development of ISDN-related products and services. This can be verified by the fact that the number of NISDN lines deployed in the United States grows steadily each year. A variety of ISDN application software packages are available today. Some BISDN-related prototyping and development efforts are also underway. These facts make the book’s publication very timely.

The book is in general self-contained. It is divided into two major parts: Part 1 describes the technology of the integrated digital network, and Part 2 is devoted to ISDN itself. Depending on the reader’s background, certain chapters in Part 1 can be skipped. Two appendices are useful for those readers with little or no background in data communications. Spelled-out acronyms and a glossary are also useful while reading the book. The contents of the book is sufficient for a broad range of readers who are interested in understanding ISDN concepts and protocols.

By pointing out the advantages and the necessities of merging computer and telecommunications technologies, chapter 1 introduces the concept of ISDN and discusses the evolution toward ISDN. Chapter 2 discusses the principles of circuit switching and examines three important concepts of the time-division switching technique--TDM bus switching, time-slot interchange, and time-multiplex switching. It also describes several routing schemes and signaling techniques (for example, common channel signaling) used in wide-area circuit-switched networks.

Chapter 3 describes the operational principles of packet switching and compares circuit switching with packet switching. After that, it presents an overview of several routing and congestion control techniques used in wide-area packet-switched networks amd examines the X.25 protocol. Chapter 3 also introduces fast packet switching based on frame-relay technology. Chapter 4 presents the key technologies of integrated digital networks (IDNs), including digital subscriber loops. In addition, it presents an overview of Signaling System Number 7 (SS7) and examines its use for common channel signaling. Finally, the chapter describes the concept of software-defined networks.

Chapter 5 provides a general introduction to the principles, evolution, and objectives of ISDN and examines the structure of the ISDN standards. Chapter 6 presents the general specification of services defined in the ISDN standards. These services are defined in terms of a set of attributes that can take on a range of values. The chapter then examines three services supported by ISDN: teletex, facsimile, and X.400 electronic mail.

Chapter 7 looks at issues related to the architecture of ISDN. After presenting the transmission structure, the chapter explains the need for introducing the concept of functional groupings and reference points. It then defines three ISDN functional groupings and four reference points and discusses several possible access configurations based on these definitions. In addition, it examines the addressing and internetworking issues. Chapter 8 begins with the description of the ISDN protocol architecture and three types of ISDN connections. It then examines the key protocols at each of the three layers of ISDN standards as well as the ISDN User Part of SS7. After presenting some of the key technical developments that drive the BISDN effort, chapter 9 examines a set of possible BISDN services and the BISDN architecture.

As pointed out earlier, the content on BISDN could be enhanced. I also found a couple of typing errors: in the third line from the bottom of page 51, the reference MART76 could not be found in the reference section, and in Section 8.2 (page 277), “Circuit-switched calls over the D channel” should be changed to “Packet-switched calls.”

All in all, I am very pleased with the book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in ISDN.

Reviewer:  S-C. Tu Review #: CR123316
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ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) (C.2.1 ... )
 
 
Circuit-Switching Networks (C.2.1 ... )
 
 
Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model (OSI) (C.2.0 ... )
 
 
Packet-Switching Networks (C.2.1 ... )
 
 
Protocol Architecture (C.2.2 ... )
 
 
Public Networks (C.2.3 ... )
 
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Other reviews under "ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)": Date
The great work
Barlow J. Communications of the ACM 35(1): 25-28, 1992. Type: Article
Apr 1 1993
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Griffths J., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 1990. Type: Book (9789780471926757)
Sep 1 1991
Standardization for ATM and related B-ISDN technologies
Cypher D., Wakid S. StandardView 1(1): 40-47, 1993. Type: Article
Feb 1 1995
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