Book excerpt: SICON '97 is the fifth conference since the first SICON, organized in 1989. It aims to provide a forum for the presentation and dissemination of results in computer communications and networking research.SICON '97 has a single-track technical programme comprising less than half of the total number of full papers that were submitted to the International Programme Committee of well-known and respected experts for review. The technical programme covers original research and development in the following areas: high speed networks, ATM, optical networks, wireless and mobile networks, performance measurement and modeling, network security, resource sharing and quality of service, internetworking, network architecture and protocols, and distributed computing.