"ATM Networks: Concepts and Protocols"-Acknowledgements

We would first like to thank Dr. Ravi Mittal (Enggineering head, Telecom and Networking division, DSQ software, New Delhi) for providing us continuous motivation and whole-hearted support. When we started writing the book, we had neither the technical know-how nor the confidence to write a book. It was due to his constant guidance that this book-writing endeavor was successful, and that too, with reasonable satisfaction. We would also like to acknowledge the effort of our technical lead at Hughes Software Systems, Arun Punj, for mentoring and grooming us.

Then, we would like to thank the organization where we first worked - Hughes Software Systems, Gurgaon (which incidentally, Sumit has joined back) for providing us the right environment for learning. It goes without saying that Hughes is one of the best organizations in the field of telecommunication to beging your career with. In particular, we would like to thank two very senior executives of the Hughes Software Systems, Mr. Vinod Sood and Mr. Aadesh Goyal for being role models. 

We would then like to thank the technical reviewers, Rajiv Gupta, Nishit Narang, and K. R. K. Mohan, who painstakingly reviewed the whole manuscript and provided valuable comments. In the first release of manuscript, chapters on signaling and routing were combined and written as a single chapter. It was after receiving comments from Rajiv that the chapter was divided into two parts, and “basic concepts of routing” added. Nishit and Rajiv’s review were also quite thorough and helped us in improving the content as well as technical accuracy of the book. 

Then, we would like to thank the entire team at Tata Mc-graw hill, which helped us in producing this book. 

We would also thank our alma mater Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur, India), and all its professors for providing us the necessary technological foundation to write a book.

In addition, Sumit Kasera would like to acknowledge the role of his family in making this book a reality. Among the family members, his mother’s contribution stands out and hence the dedication. He would also like to thank his father J. P. Kasera, sister, Smita, brother-in-law Gaurav, brother Rajiv, and aunt Manju Banka for their support. Sumit would also like to thank his buddies - Ritesh Singh, Narendra Singhal, Saket Saraf, Sandeep Goyal and Pankaj Chauhan - for continuous encouragement.

Pankaj Sethi would like to thank his mother Kiran Sethi,father Rajendra Sethi, and his elder brothers Rajeev and Sanjeev for their immense contribution in shaping his career and making this book a reality. Pankaj would also like to thank Sumit Kasera for holding on to the dream after he left.

Sumit Kasera and Pankaj Sethi