Matthew N. O. Sadiku - Fundamentals of Computer Networks

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Computer networking is an exciting and fascinating field of study. It is the fastest growing technology in our society. A computer network is a connection of two or more autonomous computers and other devices so that they can communicate and share information. It enables sharing of files, data, and devices such as printers. It facilitates interpersonal communications and allows users to communicate via various means: email, instant messaging, chat rooms, telephone, video telephone calls, and video conferencing. Computer networking relies on the related discipline of electrical engineering , computer engineering, and computer science .

Earlier, computer networks consisted of mainframes in a building. Computers became more powerful, smaller, and less expensive, to the point that the typical desktop PC is equivalent to an early mainframe. This led to the need to network those devices within the workplace to form a local area network (LAN) that will allow PC users to share access to hosts, databases, printers, etc.

Computer networks have emerged as the integration of technologies in computer and communication, and their evolution is tightly related to the advances in these two areas. Our modern society has been greatly affected by computer networks, especially the Internet. Computer networks have changed how we live, educate, entertain, and do business. Within a short time, computer communication networks have become an indispensable part of business, industry, and entertainment. Industries, government agencies, military, education, libraries, healthcare, law enforcement, justice, manufacturing, financial services, insurance, transportation, aerospace, telecommunication, energy, retail, and utilities are becoming increasingly dependent on the computer networks. People now can easily and conveniently connect to anybody anywhere in the world, send emails, access information, do shopping, and chat on the Internet without leaving their homes.

Most books on computer networks are designed for a two-semester course sequence. Unfortunately, electrical and computer engineering has grown considerably, and its curriculum is so crowded that there is no room for a two-semester course on computer networks. This book is designed for a 3-hour semester course on computer networks. It is intended as a textbook for senior-level students in electrical and computer engineering. Their mathematical background should include calculus and probability. But no advanced mathematics is required.

This book is intended to present computer networks to electrical and computer engineering students in a manner that is clearer, more interesting, and easier to understand than other texts. All principles are presented in a lucid, logical, and step-by-step manner. As much as possible, we avoid wordiness and giving too much detail that could hide concepts and impede overall understanding of the material. Ten review questions in the form of multiple-choice objective items are provided at the end of each chapter with answers. The review questions are intended to cover the little tricks which the examples and end-of-chapter problems may not cover. They serve as a self-test device and help students determine how well they have mastered the chapter. A problem solution manual will be provided, and it will be available directly from the publisher.

The book is organized to serve as a textbook for an undergraduate course in computer networks. The book is divided into 12 chapters, with each chapter self-contained.