A Tech Power

Technical glossaries

• NTIA, Glossary of Telecommunications Terms
• ATIS, Telecom Glossary
• Internet.com, Webopedia

1. Communication Basics 

• Howstuffworks.com -- general outstanding source of technical information about telecommunications (and other things) explained in lay terms.  Highly recommended.
• Tech-FAQ
• Warriors of the net (great animation of IP packets traversing the net)
• General histories of technology
• PBS history of technology
• Media History Project @ Univ. of MN School of Journalism
• Through the Wires: a Century of Telecommunication @ ThinkQuest
• General communications texts
• Intermediate level
• David Cyganski and John A. Orr, Information Technology: Inside and Outside (Prentice Hall 2001).  An excellent, readable textbook.
• Ray Horak, Communications Systems & Networks (Mark A. Miller consulting ed., 1997).
• Annabel Z. Dodd, The Essential Guide to Telecommunications (1998).
• Gilbert Held, Understanding Data Communications (5th ed. 1996).
• Advanced
• E. Bryan Carne, Telecommunications Primer: Signals, Building Blocks and Networks (1995).
• Arthur Lemuel Albert, The Electrical Fundamentals of Communication (1942).  Although an older text, Chapter 13 of Albert’s book explains clearly the transmission of electromagnetic waves down copper wire.  The explanation is clear and concise.
• Nathan J. Muller, Mobile Communications Factbook (1998). This book covers the gamut of communications technologies. Useful as a reference as it includes descriptions of all major communications technologies and protocols.
• Propagation of Radio Waves (M. P. M. Hall et al. eds., 1996). This work is highly technical. However, the first chapter sets out the electromagnetic spectrum with a general description of properties and vocabulary.
• Cotter W. Sayre, The Complete RF Technician’s Handbook (2nd ed.1998).  Somewhat off the beaten path, this technical reference contains excellent explanations of modulation techniques, as well as their advantages and disadvantages.
• Signals
• Analog and digital signals described @ Omega.com
• This chart (pdf) from the NTIA provides an excellent summary of frequency allocations

2. Computer Networks

a. The Rise of Computers

• Ron White, How Computers Work (1997) (easy illustrated introduction)

b. The Rise of Networks

• This networking primer from Novell provides lots of detail about networking
• Eddie Kee, Networking Illustrated (1994) (easy illustrated introduction).

c. Elements and Layers

• More about the OSI model for networking, from Cisco

3. The Possibilities

• Nicholas Negroponte ran the MIT media lab and pushed forward the One Laptop Per Child initiative
• Pervasive Computing
  
  • Journal on Pervasive Computing
  • Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS @ UCLA)