At the time of his death in 1984, Ithiel de Sola Pool had completed a rough draft of a manuscript he had been working on for years. It contained his vision of a new world resulting from the social and political consequences of communications technology. Edited into an elegant synthesis of technology, history, politics, and economics by his friend and fellow scholar, Eli Noam, this is the intellectual legacy of one of our century's wisest social critics.

In the book Pool foresees dramatic changes that will revolutionize culture and society as much as printing did five centuries ago. Because distance no longer places a significant economic burden on communications, he predicts complex changes in the spatial patterns of human settlements. People will not simply move away from cities and disperse, but will cluster together in new ways, for different reasons, and in different locations. The increasingly lower cost of long distance communication will also cause political movements that formerly would have been confined to their country of origin to spill over national boundaries, creating threats to national sovereignty. Furthermore, the ability to customize messages and target them to specific audiences could also work to undermine social and political cohesion. What will it mean to the effective functioning of democratic societies, Pool asks, if the influence of the mass media weakens and citizens can no longer agree on a common agenda of problems, let alone solutions to those problems? Pool also shows how the coming convergence of print and electronic media could lead, inadvertently, to the erosion of the system of free public discourse that we value so highly.

Technologies without Boundaries is a book of great social and political import, accessible—and necessary—to thoughtful readers living in this century and beyond.

Nearly half a century ago, the economic historian Harold Innis pointed out that the geographical limits of empires were determined by communications and that, historically, advances in the technologies of transport and communications have enabled empires to grow. This power of communications was demonstrated when Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s radio speech announcing Japan’s surrender and the dissolution of its empire was broadcast simultaneously throughout not only the Japanese home islands but also all the territories under its control over the telecommunications system that had, in part, made that empire possible.

In the extension of the Japanese empire in the 1930s and 1940s, technology, geo-strategy, and institutions were closely intertwined in empire building. The central argument of this study of the development of a communications network linking the far-flung parts of the Japanese imperium is that modern telecommunications not only served to connect these territories but, more important, made it possible for the Japanese to envision an integrated empire in Asia. Even as the imperial communications network served to foster integration and strengthened Japanese leadership and control, its creation and operation exacerbated long-standing tensions and created new conflicts within the government, the military, and society in general.

Telecommunications is vital to modern life, and the global telecommunication network that has developed is an essential part of the infrastructure of society. Although there is an extensive literature on many aspects of telecommunication technology, comparatively little has been published on the functioning and planning of complete telecommunication networks. The first edition of this book was intended to help fill that gap and this new edition has been thoroughly revised and includes much new material.

Telecommunications Network Modelling, Planning and Design addresses sophisticated modelling techniques from the perspective of the communications industry and covers some of the major issues facing telecommunications network engineers and managers today. Topics covered include network planning for transmission systems, modelling of SDH transport network structures and telecommunications network design and performance modelling, as well as network costs, ROI modelling and QoS in 3G networks. This practical book will prove a valuable resource to network engineers and managers working in today's competitive telecommunications environment.

Service quality and cost control are critical success factors for the communications industry and performance engineering is vital in achieving both. It enables service quality to be 'built in' to products; cost control is achieved by addressing potential problems at an early stage, before the costs to remedy problems rise and large failure costs are incurred.

In today's increasingly competitive communications environment, Quality of Service (QoS) is of paramount importance in the battle to win market share. However, the enhanced expectations of customers and the introduction of many new services and technologies makes comprehending and meeting customer requirements a real challenge. Building on the issues covered in Quality of Service in Telecommunications (1997), this book examines the technical, service and human issues that need to be addressed in order to provide a level of QoS that will meet those requirements. One key objective is to increase the reader's understanding of the importance of QoS and to show how the concepts presented can be applied to the reader's own circumstances. The book provides a comprehensive overview of definitions and standards, frameworks and models, network performance, internet, mobile and satellite services, the impact on customers, external drivers, economics, fraud and security and future trends. The authors, established experts in their fields, have wide-ranging experience in both UK and US telecommunications companies, reflecting the global nature of this industry and the universal concept of QoS.

Telecommunications Regulation examines the background to regulation and the work of the regulator. It discusses typical regulatory rules and the legal and administrative framework for regulation, and looks at regulatory strategies, market structures and approaches to price control. The book includes a number of case studies which show how regulators engage with such topical issues as interconnection and loop unbundling, and also features technical coverage of both numbering and number portability. Finally, it looks at new products and services such as virtual network operators, intelligent networks, radio spectrum and next generation networks, and considers the impact these might have on the future of regulation.

As the Information Age evolves, customers need communications of high quality, excellent value and widespread mobility. The response is to establish efficient networks carrying a wide range of services. Signalling is at the heart of this revolution, energising networks to meet customer expectations.

This book has been written with the intention of helping those who ore concerned with planning, ordering, managing and using telecommunications facilities in connection with their business activities, and who do not wish to obtain a detailed technical and mathematical knowledge of the subject. The various types of telecommunications traffic are analysed without recourse to the underlying theory, and the reader is introduced to the terminology and operation of modern telecommunications systems and networks. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between traffic-carrying capacity and cost, and to the importance of traffic measurement and forecasting as a means of matching equipment provision to demand. The role of performance targets is discussed and the book explains how a comparison between public-network tariff options and the cost of private system and network alternatives can ensure a cost-effective solution to any communications problem. The principles are demonstrated by simple worked examples and a detailed glossary of terms is included.

Terahertz dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) provide ultrafast data transfer rates using large bandwidth and multimode operations, which make them ideal for high speed communication due to their low loss and high efficiency. They can work at microwave, terahertz or optical frequencies, and are compact in size, which makes them well suited for advanced applications in sensing, scanning and imaging. New geometries are being developed for conical optical DRAs, cylindrical optical DRAs and spherical optical DRAs. Spherical optical DRAs have features of super directivity which can be used in quantum radars. Cylindrical optical DRAs with photo diodes can be used for wireless energy harvesting.

This greatly expanded, co-authored, two-volume text provides a comprehensive introduction and explanation of both the theory and practice of modern antenna measurements, from their most basic postulates and assumptions, to the intricate details of their applications in various demanding modern measurement scenarios.

This greatly expanded, co-authored, two-volume text provides a comprehensive introduction and explanation of both the theory and practice of modern antenna measurements, from their most basic postulates and assumptions, to the intricate details of their applications in various demanding modern measurement scenarios.

Now in its 3rd edition, this successful book provides an intuitive approach to transceiver design, allowing a broad spectrum of readers to understand the topics clearly. It covers a wide range of data link communication design techniques, including link budgets, dynamic range and system analysis of receivers and transmitters used in data link communications, digital modulation and demodulation techniques of phase-shift keyed and frequency hopped spread spectrum systems using phase diagrams, multipath, gain control, an intuitive approach to probability, jamming reduction method using various adaptive processes, global positioning systems (GPS) data link, and direction-finding and interferometers, plus a section on broadband communications and home networking. Various techniques and designs are evaluated for modulating and sending digital data. Thus readers gain a firm understanding of the processes needed to effectively design wireless data link communication systems.

The story of how captioning came into the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people has not been told with any detail, though captions are one of the greatest technological advancements in the effort to improve access to films, television, and other video content for both deaf and hearing audiences. In Turn on the Words!, Harry G. Lang documents the struggles and strategies over nearly a century to make spoken communication accessible through the use of captioning technology.

       Lang describes the legislation, programs, and people who contributed great ingenuity and passion over decades to realize widespread access to captions, one breakthrough at a time. He also chronicles the resistance to captioned films from Hollywood studios and others, and the Deaf and hearing activists who championed the right to access. Deaf, hard of hearing, disabled, and English-as-a-second-language audiences now experience improved access to the educational, occupational, and cultural benefits of film and television programming. The struggle continues as deaf audiences advocate for equal access in a variety of settings such as movie theaters and online video-sharing platforms. This is a history of technological innovation, as well as a testament to the contributions of the Deaf community to the benefit of society as a whole.

       This book has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this book do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.