Networks In Transport And Communications

First published in 1997, this book contains contributions on policy aspects of networks from a multidisciplinary perspective, including economics, geography and transport science. Both material and immaterial networks are examined. Policy aspects refer mainly to interventions of the public sector in networks. In addition, the book examines the policies of other actors in shaping networks and the territorial effects of networks as a whole.

Transport Communications is a ground-breaking study into the future of transporting both people and goods more efficiently. The authors examine how existing modes of transport can be made more effective by the use of modern communications technology. Examples include RFID tags, which allow goods to be tracked electronically at every stage of their journey - from the point of manufacture to the point of delivery. They show how possible future developments will continue to revolutionize transport systems, leading to better, cleaner, more cost effective systems. For example, the concept of computer-controlled rail systems, such as London's Dockland Light Railway could be taken a stage further to apply to vehicles which don't run on rails; or the smart traffic control system in Milton Keynes which sense traffic flow and adjusts signal phasing accordingly.

Europe is undergoing fundamental change as barriers and borders are broken down, as new technologies are introduced, and as the European Union expands. This study provides an overview of the present state of affairs. It has been written for a non-technical market and covers spatial, economic, telecommunications and political issues. The theoretical material is illustrated with individual case studies from a variety of European countries.

Volume 2 of TERB 3ed covers the convergence of telephony and data transport, including wireless networks. Now that data is becoming the predominant source of traffic more efficient multiplexing schemes and more flexible control methods are needed in the transport network, such as giving the customer the ability to call for bandwidth on demand. With the development of control methods for switched data services it is now recognised that improved ways to control the transport network are possible and standards initiatives are taking place to establish and improve the network control layer. Detailed explanation of propagation in wireless and optical fibre systems requires a substantial amount of mathematics, also covered in this volume. For each of the math chapters there is an explanation of why the mathematics is important, where it is applied and references to other chapters.

Typically, communication technology breakthroughs and developments occur for the purposes of home, work, or cellular and mobile networks. Communications in transportation systems are often overlooked, yet they are equally as important. Communication in Transportation Systems brilliantly bridges theoretical knowledge and practical applications of cutting-edge technologies for communication in automotive applications. This reference source carefully covers innovative technologies which will continue to advance transportation systems. Researchers, developers, scholars, engineers, and graduate students in the transportation and automotive system, communication, electrical, and information technology fields will especially benefit from this advanced publication.

One aspect of the new economy is a transition to a networked society, and the emergence of a highly interconnected, interdependent and complex system of networks to move people, goods and information. An example of this is the in creasing reliance of networked systems (e. g. , air transportation networks, electric power grid, maritime transport, etc. ) on telecommunications and information in frastructure. Many of the networks that evolved today have an added complexity in that they have both a spatial structure – i. e. , they are located in physical space but also an a spatial dimension brought on largely by their dependence on infor mation technology. They are also often just one component of a larger system of geographically integrated and overlapping networks operating at different spatial levels. An understanding of these complexities is imperative for the design of plans and policies that can be used to optimize the efficiency, performance and safety of transportation, telecommunications and other networked systems. In one sense, technological advances along with economic forces that encourage the clustering of activities in space to reduce transaction costs have led to more efficient network structures. At the same time the very properties that make these networks more ef ficient have also put them at a greater risk for becoming disconnected or signifi cantly disruptedwh en super connected nodes are removed either intentionally or through a targeted attack.

There have been striking increases in both long-distance travel and in communications through mobile phones, text messaging, emailing and videoconferencing. Such developments in communication, along with a similar increase in physical travel and movement of goods around the globe, reconfigure social networks by disconnecting and reconnecting people in new ways. This original book puts forward one of the first social science studies of the geographies of social networks and related mobilities of travel, communications and face-to-face meetings. The book examines five interdependent mobilities that form and reform these geographies of networks and travel in the contemporary world. These are: physical travel of people for work, leisure, pleasure, migration and escape; physical movement of objects delivered to producers, consumers and retailers; imaginative travel elsewhere through images and memories seen on texts, TV, computer screens and film; virtual travel on the internet; and communicative travel through letters, cards, telegrams, telephones, faxes, text messages and videoconferences. In the book the authors examine the interconnections between these different mobilities. They research how travel and social meetings require systems of coordination using virtual and communicative travel in-between physical travel and meetings. They argue that, while it might be imagined that there would be less need of physical meetings with improved technology, on the contrary, scheduled visits and meetings have become highly significant. The research shows that they are necessary to social life in the contemporary world, both within business and, especially, within families and friendships which are increasingly conducted at a distance.

Telecommunications Essentials, Second Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of the rapidly evolving world of telecommunications. Providing an in-depth, one-stop reference for anyone wanting to get up to speed on the $1.2 trillion telecommunications industry, this book not only covers the basic building blocks but also introduces the most current information on new technologies. This edition features new sections on IP telephony, VPNs, NGN architectures, broadband access alternatives, and broadband wireless applications, and it describes the technological and political forces at play in the world of telecommunications around the globe. Topics include Communications fundamentals, from traditional transmission media, to establishing communicationschannels, to the PSTN Data networking and the Internet, including the basics of data communications, local area networking, wide area networking, and the Internet and IP infrastructures Next-generation networks, including the applications, characteristics, and requirements of the new generation of networks that are being built to quickly and reliably carry the ever-increasing network traffic, focusing on IP services, network infrastructure, optical networking, and broadband access alternatives Wireless networking, including the basics of wireless networking and the technologies involved in WWANs, WMANs, WLANs, and WPANs