Dot-Dash to Dot.Com How Modern Telecommunications Evolved from the T
The profusion of websites and applications that characterise the modern Internet may seem a far cry from the primitive telegraph system of the late 1830s. There is, however, a direct link. The invention of the electric telegraph paved the way for telephon
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Andrew Wheen
Dot-Dash to Dot.Com How Modern Telecommunications Evolved from the Telegraph to the Internet
Published in association with
£} Springer
Praxis Publishing Chichester, UK
Dr. Andrew Wheen Baldock Herts UK
SPRINGER-PRAXIS BOOKS IN POPULAR SCIENCE SUBJECT ADVISORY EDITOR: Stephen Webb, B.Sc, Ph.D. ISBN 978-1-4419-6759-6 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-6760-2 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-6760-2 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2010929000 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA) except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Cover design: Jim Wilkie Project copy editor: Christine Cressy Typesetting: BookEns, Royston, Herts., UK Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Contents
Acknowledgments List of figures List of pictures List of tables About the author
ix xi xiii xv xvii
Introduction
1
1
The birth of an industry
3
2
The telegraph goes global
19
3
A gatecrasher spoils t h e party
31
4
Early telephone networks
49
5
Going digital
67
6
A bit of w e t string
81
7
The last mile
103
8
Computers get chatty
113
9
The birth of the I n t e r n e t
127
10
Life in cyberspace
139
11
The m o b i l e r e v o l u t i o n
163
12
W h e n failure is not an option
175
13
W h a t comes next?
183
Appendices A Duplex telegraph B Baudot Code C Microphone wars D Digital signal processing E DSL technologies F Leveling up the playing field G Fixed wireless access networks H Internet Service Provider networks
203 203 205 208 210 218 220 222 225
vi
Dot-Dash to Dot.Com I J K L M N O P Q
The Internet address shortage Virtual private networks Internet voice services IP television GSM networks Wideband CDMA Network reliability Availability Error detection and correction
Notes Glossary Bibliography Index
226 228 232 235 239 242 245 248 250 253 281 293 295
For Carol, Laura and Alex
Acknowledgments
A large number of people have contributed to this book in one way or another, and I am grateful to them all. However, particular thanks are due to the following: Eric Benedict, who first suggested that there might be a need for this book. Clive Horwood and the Praxis staff, for guiding me through the intricacies of the publication process. Stephen Webb, for reviewing the manuscript and for contributing many helpful suggestions.
