This resource examines the four core technologies behind today's broadband networks. Professionals get coverage of TCP/IP, ATM, SDH/SONET and WDM networking technologies, which are being utilized to meet the demands of today's diverse service features. The text presents a framework of networking principles that forms a basis of the comparison of these technologies with respect to their relative strengths, weakness and fields of use. Moreover, practitioners learn how the technologies differ, what they have in common, and how they interact.