BKUNDSLT.RVW   990307

"Understanding Digital Subscriber Line Technology", Thomas Starr/John
M. Cioffi/Peter J. Silverman, 1999, 0-13-780545-4
%A   Thomas Starr
%A   John M. Cioffi
%A   Peter J. Silverman
%C   One Lake St., Upper Saddle River, NJ   07458
%D   1999
%G   0-13-780545-4
%I   Prentice Hall
%O   +1-201-236-7139 fax: +1-201-236-7131
%P   474 p.
%T   "Understanding Digital Subscriber Line Technology"

There is relatively little understanding conveyed in this book. 
Oddly, there is relatively little about DSL, as such, either.

While chapter one is entitled "DSL Fundamentals," the basic concepts
are not well explained, beyond the facts, gleanable if you are a
professional, that it involves copper wire, high data rates, and is
probably asymmetric.  A number of types of Digital Subscriber Line
(DSL) technologies are enumerated in chapter two.  Twisted pair
transmission physics is primarily of interest to cable plant
engineers, and so is the very lengthy chapter three.  The comparison
with other media, in chapter four, is very short.  As with much of the
other material, the look at duplexing, in chapter five, mixes
specification and power equations with simplistic presentation of the
concepts.  Chapter six's review of encoding methods is highly
theoretical, and, again, deals more with power than data.  Chapter
seven does talk about data, and the theoretical distance between data
points.  A highly academic discussion of channel identification and
initialization comprises chapter eight.  Since a lot of the foregoing
has not really talked about DSL, it is not surprising that the
overview of DSL management, in chapter nine, is so short.  And, since
we know that DSL is going to be strictly confined to the physical
layer, it isn't odd that chapter ten's comparison with the OSI (Open
System Interconnection) model is very terse.  The use of the term "bit
pump" in the title for chapter eleven sounded exciting, but it really
only talks about subdivided channels over a DSL link.  Chapters twelve
and thirteen are quick looks at using DSL channels to transmit ATM
(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) and frame relay cells.  It is only in
chapter fourteen that we start to get into actual ADSL (Asymmetric
Digital Subscriber Line) usage, and even there it only looks at
different configurations of customer premises equipment.  Chapter
fifteen supposedly deals with network architecture and regulation, but
simply lists various service options.  Chapter sixteen lists some of
the major standards bodies.

No audience is specified in the book, but it is safe to say that the
layman did not figure in the authors' minds while they wrote.  Some
telco engineers, planning DSL installations, may find some of it
useful.  Possibly those contemplating the design of new and
unspecified DSL transmission equipment may find some of the math to be
helpful.  Engineering profs setting group projects, such as
implementing DSL from scratch, could use it as reference material.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKUNDSLT.RVW   990307