Gsm Systems Engineering and Network Management

Rating:
Summary: A GOOD QUICK REFERENCE ON GSM
Review: Excellent book! Written in easy to understand language but also provides the detail needed to help in understanding the technology. The book makes it easy to sail through complex GSM technology very easily.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books on GSM. As good as Gunnar Heine's.
Review: I purchased an E-book version directly from the publisher. After taking quick a look, I was really impressed and purchased a hardcopy also. This book is not an university textbook and there is not much math and theory in it. It is not a short definition handbook of the GSM concepts either. This book has 520 pages with whealth of information and colour figures. Transmission, signalling, mobility, radio interface and radio resource management, GSM network, call handling and signalling flows have been explained very well. Perhaps as good as Mr. Gunnar Heine's book. I have most of the GSM books available in the market and had an opportunity to compare. In my opinion this is one of the best books on GSM technologies. There are 2 things which could be better. 1- GPRS technology has been covered very shortly like an overview. 2- There are a few font changes by the end of the book. For example all text have been written Ariel-like fonts which is quite good and easy to read but by the end of the book, explanation of some figures have been written by Times New Roman (Fig 7.64,Fig 7.65,etc). And explanation of some figures have shifted to the next page (Fig 7.16). It needs carefully editing once more and perhaps re-generating the PDF file. However these cosmetic errors don't have negative impact on the rich content of the book. I recommend buyers to have look at the publisher's web site to save on both book price and shipment cost (1stbooks.com). And Mr. Fares, if you wrote a book on GPRS and UMTS technologies, I will be the first person to buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Not a finished product?
Review: Needs professional proofreading in the most desperate way. On every single page, nary a paragraph goes by that does not contain incorrect or missing punctuation, run-on sentences, typographical errors, or sentence fragments. Sections that should be seperated into multiple paragraphs for readability are instead combined together into a huge block of text.

While the technical content and scope of the book seem ok, the complete lack of professional editing grows more and more distracting (to the point of fatigue) as one reads through the book.

The book also suffers from confusing (I hesitate to say erroneous - let me explain) information, especially if being read by a newcomer to GSM.

For example, Section 4.3 "Radio Criteria" refers to a measurement called "C1" that is used to determine what cell a mobile can "hear" the best. Now, I have worked in GSM both in North America and in Europe for the last 6 years, and I had no idea what "C1" was... until I read the mathematical definition. What is ACTUALLY being referred to here is "CI" or Carrier to Interference ratio (C/I), as measured in decibels.

However, the "C1" error is repeated approximately 20 times on pgs 237 - 238. NOWHERE is the term "Carrier to Interference" mentioned to explain the "C1" moniker. Is it a repeated typo or an indication of lack of understanding of the author? I don't know, but it would likely be hopelessly confusing to an inexperienced reader.

Positive points are that it serves as an excellent reference source for experienced GSM engineers looking to fill in gaps in their knowledge. Also, Mr. Fares does a fairly good job including "nuts and bolts" technical knowledge that can be put to practical, everyday use; I feel that the chosen scope of the book is good.

I would NOT recommend this book as the basis for a University class or to a person looking for their first exposure to GSM.

This review refers to the electronic (PDF) version of the book which was purchased from www.1stbooks.com

Rating:
Summary: A GOOD QUICK REFERENCE ON GSM
Review: This book (if you can call it a book) is good in a sense that it does not have a lot of complex mathematical equations. It goes straight to the point of explaining the essentials of GSM (from signalling, radio resource management to radio interface).

If you are looking for a book which will discuss the details of GSM system optimization, this does not provide enough details. As for the C1 term that the other reviewer mentioned as being supposed to be CI (or C/I), I guess the reviewer is not really that familiar with GSM (considering that the C1 parameter is as basic as the BSIC in GSM terminologies).

As for the the typographical errors, there are a lot of them. Sometimes, two sentences would actually turn out as being a single sentence. This can easily throw you off if you are not familiar with GSM (or cellular technology). I BET MR. FARES TYPED THIS BOOK(?) BY HIMSELF. I would say that this is more of a GSM Manual than a GSM Book. THE FIGURES ARE TERRIBLE! The font type used is also unprofessional.

Aesthetically speaking, this one needs a MAJOR overhaul. As for the content of the book, it is of value and if you can just disregard the looks of the manual .. I mean the book, there is a lot of information you can get from it.

Rating:
Summary: GSM 's best content
Review: This book indeed gives the main concepts, models and network managerial orientation of GSM telecommunication Systems Engineering. It responds to extensive GSM engineering practicalities suited for GSM Technicians, Engineers, Practitioners, and field GSM Consultants . The stimulus for this book seems to have arisen from the difficulty of trying to find a text, which covered GSM systems engineering in broad terms. Obviously, the author had to considerable judgment in selecting topics and in choosing the depth of treatment. In this regard, he has adequately covered the whole spectrum of GSM systems engineering stretching from transmission, signaling, and network design, network engineering, network security, to network management. The author has also given specific illustrations that are pivotal in understanding GSM concepts. Dispite some typographocal errors which can possibly be corrected in the next edition this book stands out the best in terms of coverage and contents.The book contains a pool of GSM engineering information ,which is rarely found in may such titles.