Olivier Dubuisson is a research engineer at France T¶el¶ecom R&D, the Research

& Development centre of France T¶el¶ecom (formerly known as Cnet), where he is in

charge of the ASN.1 expertise. He takes part in the language evolution at the ISO

and ITU-T working groups. He has also developed various editing and analysis tools

for ASN.1 speci¯cations and assists the ASN.1 users at France T¶el¶ecom in numerous

application domains.

Philippe Fouquart graduated from Aston University, UK with an MSc in Computer

Science and Applied Maths in 1997. He worked for Cnet on ASN.1:1994 grammar and

later joined France T¶el¶ecom R&D in 1999 where he used ASN.1 for Intelligent Network

and SS7 protocols. He is now working on Fixed-Mobile Converged architectures

and IP mobility.

ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation One) is an international standard which aims

at specifying of data used in telecommunication protocols. It is a computing

language that is both powerful and complex: it was designed for modeling

e±ciently communications between heterogeneous systems.

ASN.1 was in great need of a reference book, didactic as well as precise

and Olivier Dubuisson's book meets these demands. The language is comprehensively

described from its basic constructions to the latest additions to the

notation. The description of each of these constructions is wholly accessible

and accurate. Many case studies of real-world applications illustrate this presentation.

The text also replaces the language in its historical background and

describes the context in which it is used, both from the application viewpoint

and from that of other speci¯cation standards which use or refer to ASN.1.

This book is written by an expert of ASN.1, of its syntax and semantics,

and clearly constitutes a reference on the language. It is intended for those

merely interested in ¯nding a complete and reliable description of the language

and for programmers or experts who may want to look up for the proper usage

of some constructions. The tools available on the website associated with this

book will prove useful to both the pro¯cient and the beginner ASN.1 user.

Michel Mauny

Project leader at INRIA, the French National Institute for Research in

Computer Science and Control