This timely revision of an all-time best-seller in the field features the clarity and scope of a Stallings classic. This comprehensive volume provides the most up-to-date coverage of the essential topics in data communications, networking, Internet technology and protocols, and standards - all in a convenient modular format. Features updated coverage of multimedia, Gigabit and 10 Gbps Ethernet, WiFi/IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs, security, and much more. Ideal for professional reference or self-study. For Product Development personnel, Programmers, Systems Engineers, Network Designers and others involved in the design of data communications and networking products.

OBJECTIVES This book attempts to provide a unified overview of the broad field of data and computer communications. The organization of the book reflects an attempt to break this massive subject into comprehensible parts and to build, piece by piece, a survey of the state of the art. The book emphasizes basic principles and topics of fundamental importance concerning the technology and architecture of this field and provides a detailed discussion of leading-edge topics. The following basic themes serve to unify the discussion: Principles:Although the scope of this book is broad, there are a number of basic principles that appear repeatedly as themes and that unify this field. Examples are multiplexing, flow control, and error control. The book highlights these principles and contrasts their application in specific areas of technology. Design approaches:The book examines alternative approaches to meeting specific communication requirements. Standards:Standards have come to assume an increasingly important, indeed dominant, role in this field. An understanding of the current status and future direction of technology requires a comprehensive discussion of the related standards. PLAN OF THE TEXT The book is divided into five parts: In addition, the book includes an extensive glossary, a list of frequently used acronyms, and a bibliography. Each chapter includes problems and suggestions for further reading. The book is intended for both an academic and a professional audience. For the professional interested in this field, the book serves as a basic reference volume and is suitable for self-study. As a textbook, it can be used for a one-semester or two-semester course. It covers the material in the Communication and Networking core course of the joint ACM/IEEE Computing Curricula 2001. The chapters and parts of the book are sufficiently modul to provide a great deal of flexibility in the design of courses. The following are suggestions for course design: Fundamentals of Data Communications:Parts One (overview) and Two (data communications) and Chapters 10 and 11 (circuit switching, packet switching, and ATM). Communications Networks:If the student has a basic background in data communications, then this course could cover Parts One (overview), Three (WAN), and Four (LAN). Computer Networks:If the student has a basic background in data communications, then this course could cover Part One (overview), Chapters 6 and 7 (data communication techniques and data link control), and Part Five (protocols). In addition, a more streamlined course that covers the entire book is possible by eliminating certain chapters that are not essential on a first reading. Chapters that could be optional are Chapters 3 (data transmission) and 4 (transmission media), if the student has a basic understanding of these topics; Chapter 8 (multiplexing); Chapter 9 (spread spectrum); Chapters 12 through 14 (routing, congestion control, cellular networks); Chapter 18 (internetworking); and Chapter 21 (network security). INTERNET SERVICES FOR INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS There is a Web site for this book that provides support for students and instructors. The site includes links to other relevant sites, transparency masters of figures in the book, and sign-up information for the book's Internet mailing list. The Web page is at WilliamStallings.com/DCC/DCC7e.html; see the section, "Web Site for Data and Computer Communications," preceding the Table of Contents, for more information. An Internet mailing list has been set up so that instructors using this book can exchange information, suggestions, and questions with each other and with the author. As soon as typos or other errors are discovered, an errata list for this book will be available at WilliamStalling