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LECTURE NOTES
SECTION I: Introduction
Businesses are becoming internetworked enterprises. The Internet and Internet-like networks
inside the enterprise (intranets), between an enterprise and its trading partners (extranets), and
other types of networks have become the primary information technology infrastructure of many
organizations. Telecommunications networks enable managers, end users, and their teams and
workgroups to electronically exchange data and information anywhere in the world with other end
users, customers, suppliers, and other organizations. By using such networks, companies can:
Coordinate their work activities
Manage their business operations and organizational resources
Compete successfully in today=s fast changing global economy
Many organizations today could not survive without a variety of interconnected computer
networks to service the information processing and communications needs.
Telecommunications - is the sending of information in any form from one place to another
using electronic or light-emitting media.
communication links between one or more computer systems and a variety of input/output
terminals.
We can learn a lot about the cruical role that the Internet and other telecommunications
technologies play in business from the Real World Case of Deckers Outdoor Corporation.
Take a few minutes to read it, and we will discuss it (See Deckers Outdoor Corporation in section
XI)
Electronic Commerce - applications support the buying and selling of products, and
information over the Internet and other computer networks.
Industry Trends:
Telecommunications networks and services are available from numerous large and small
telecommunications companies.
Explosive growth of the Internet and the World Wide Web has created a host of new
telecommunications products, services, and products.
Business firms have dramatically increased their use of the Internet and the Web for
electronic commerce and collaboration.
Technology Trends:
Open systems with unrestricted connectivity, using Internet networking technologies are
their technology platform are becoming the primary telecommunications technologies
drivers.
Increased industry and technical moves towards building client/server networks based on an
open system architecture. Open systems are information systems that use common standards
for hardware, software, applications, and networking. Any open systems architecture also
provides a high degree of network interoperability.
Change from analog to digital network technologies. Local and global telecommunication
networks are rapidly converting to digital transmission technologies that transmit information
in the form of discrete pulses, rather than waves. Digital transmission offers:
a. Higher transmission speeds (transmits with pulses)
b. Movement of greater amounts of information
c. Greater economy
d. Much lower error rates than analog systems
e. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) technology allows networks to carry multiple
types of communications (data, voice, and video) on the same circuits.
Change in communications media. Many telecommunications networks are changing from
copper wire-based media and land-based microwave relay systems to fiber optic lines and
communications satellite transmissions.
Fiber optic transmission, which uses pulses of a laser-generated light offer significant
advantages in terms of:
a. Reduced size and installation effort
b. Greater communication capacity
• Faster transmission speeds
Application Trends:
The trend toward more vendors, services, Internet technologies, and open systems, and the
rapid growth of the Internet, the World Wide Web, and corporate Internets and extranets,
dramatically increases the number of feasible applications.
Telecommunications networks are playing a vital and pervasive role in electronic commerce,
electronic collaboration, and internal business applications that support the operations,
management, and strategic objectives of both large and small companies.
Telecommunications functions have become an integral part of local and global computer
networks that are used to dramatically:
a. Cut Costs
b. Shorten business lead times and response times
c. Support electronic commerce
d. Improve the collaboration of workgroups
e. Develop online operational processes
f. Share resources
g. Lock in customers and suppliers
h. Develop new products and services.
The Internet is the largest “network of networks” today, and the closest model we have to the
information superhighway of tomorrow.
Internet Applicattions:
1. The most popular Internet applications are E-Mail, browsing the sites on the World Wide
Web, and participating in special interest newsgroups.
Internet is the launch site for electronic commerce transactions between businesses and their
suppliers and customers.
Internet provides electronic discussion forms and bulletin board systems
Other applications include downloading software and information files and accessing
The trend toward open, high-speed, digital networks with fiber optic and satellite links and the
widespread use of the Internet and its technologies have made the concept of an information
superhighway technically feasible, and has captured the interest of both business and government.
The information superhighway can have dramatic impacts on a business organization. As well, it
promises to have a major impact on developments in telecommunications and on our national
economic and social life.
Terminals
Are any input/output device that use telecommunications networks to transmit or receive data.
They include:
1. Video Terminals
2. Microcomputers
3. Telephones
4. Office Equipment
5. Transaction Terminals
Telecommunications Processors
Support data transmission and reception between terminals and computers. They include:
1. Modems
2. Switches
3. Routers
connect one location to another for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information.
Data are transmitted and received over channels, which use a variety of telecommunications
media. Media include:
1. Copper Wires
2. Coaxial Cables
3. Fibre Optic Cables
4. Microwave Systems
5. Communications Satellites
Computers
Computers of all sizes and types are interconnected by telecommunications networks. They
include:
1. Host Computers (mainframes)
2. Front-End Processors (minicomputers)
3. Network Servers (microcomputers)
There are many different types of telecommunications networks. However, from an end user
point of view, there are only a few basic types, such as:
1. Wide area networks
2. Local area networks
3. Interconnected networks like the Internet, Internets, and extranets
4. Client/server and interorganizational networks
Local area networks are telecommunications networks that connect information processing
devices within a limited physical area. These networks cover areas such as:
1. Offices
2. Classrooms
3. Buildings
4. Manufacturing plant
Internetworks
Most local area networks are eventually connected to other LANs or WANs to create
internetworks. Internetworks enable end users to communicate with the workstations of
colleagues on other LAN, or to access the computing resources and databases at other company
locations or at other organizations. In order to make internetworking connections possible, LAN
rely on internetwork processors such as:
Switches
Routers
Hubs
Gateways
Internets are designed to be open, but secure internal networks whose web browsing software
provides easy point-and-click access by end users to multimedia information on internal web
sites. Internet web sites may be established on internal web servers by a company, its
Extranets are networks that link some of the Intranet resources of a company with other
organizations and individuals. Organizations can establish private extranets among
themselves, or use the Internet as part of the network connections between them.
Many organizations use virtual private networks (VPNs) to establish secure Internets and
extranets. A virtual private network is a secure network that uses the Internet as its main
backbone network, but relies on the firewalls and other security features of the Internet and
Intranet connections and those of participating organizations.
To get from here too there, data must move through something. A telephone line, a cable, or the
atmospheres are all forms of transmission media, or channels.
Telecommunications channels (communication lines or links) are the means by which data and
other forms of communications are transmitted between the sending and receiving devices in a
telecommunications network.
Telecommunications media are the physical media used by telecommunications channels. They
include:
1. Twisted-pair Wire
2. Coaxial Cables
3. Fiber Optic Cables
4. Terrestrial Microwave
5. Communications Satellites
6. Cellular Phone Systems
Packet and LAN radio
Infrared Systems
Twisted-Pair Media:
Is ordinary telephone wire, consisting of copper wire twisted into pairs (twisted pair wire).
1. Most widely used media for telecommunications.
2. Used in established communications throughout the world
3. Used for both voice and data transmissions.
4. Used extensively in home and office telephone systems and many LANs and WANs.
Disadvantages:
1. Susceptible to a variety of types of electrical interference (noise), which limits the practical
distance that data can be transmitted without being garbled.
2. Signals must be “refreshed” every one to two miles through the use of repeaters which are
very expensive.
3. Does not offer security.
Coaxial cable consists of copper or aluminum wire wrapped with spacers to insulate and protect
it. Insulation minimizes interference and distortion of the signals the cable carries.
1. Can carry a large volume of data - about 100 million bits per second (1800 to 3600 voice calls
at once). A 2" diameter coaxial cable can carry up to 5,500 channels
2. Coaxial cables can be bundled together into a much larger cable for ease of installation.
3. Can be placed underground & laid on the floors of lakes and oceans.
4. Allow for high-speed data transmission are used in high-service metropolitan areas for cable
TV systems, and for short-distance connection of computers and peripheral devices.
5. Used extensively in office buildings and other work sites for local area networks.
Disadvantages:
1. More expensive than twisted pair
Fiber Optics:
Fiber optics use cables consisting of one or more hair-thin filaments of glass fiber wrapped in a
protective jacket. Signals are converted to light form and fired by laser in bursts.
1. Relatively low cost
2. Offer high transmission volume. A 2" diameter fiber optic cable can carry up to 50,000
channels.
3. Can carry digital signals, as well as analog thus increase communications and capability.
4. Provide substantial size and weight reductions
5. Provide increased speed and greater carrying capacity than coaxial cable and twisted-pair
lines. Are not affected by and do not generate electromagnetic radiation.
6. Are not susceptible to electronic noise and so have much lower error rates than twisted-pair
and coaxial cable.
7. Speed of communications is 10,000 times faster than that of microwave and satellite systems.
8. Message security as fiber optics communications is very resistant to illegal data theft, taps can
be easily detected.
9. Can be used undersea for transatlantic use
Terrestrial Microwave
Terrestrial microwave involves earthbound microwave systems which transmit high-speed radio
signals in a line-of-sight path between relay stations spaced approximately 30 miles apart.
1. Use the atmosphere as the medium through which to transmit signals.
2. Used extensively for high-volume as well as long-distance communication of both data and
voice in the form of electromagnetic waves
Disadvantages:
1. Microwave signals cannot bend around the curvature of the earth; instead they must be
relayed from point to point by microwave towers, or relay stations, placed approximately 30
miles apart. (The surface of the earth typically curves about 8 inches every mile).
2. Saturation of the airwaves with microwave transmissions has reached its maximum.
Communications Satellites
Communications satellites use the atmosphere as the medium through which to transmit signals.
A satellite is some solar-powered electronic devices that receives, amplify, and retransmit signals;
the satellite acts as a relay station between satellite transmissions stations on the ground (earth
stations). Three satellites placed in orbit can cover the entire surface of the earth, with some
overlap.
1. Used extensively for high-volume as well as long-distance communication of both data and
voice.
2. Cost-effective method for moving large quantities of data over long distances.
Disadvantages:
1. Satellites are very expensive to develop and place in orbit.
2. Signals weaken over long distances, weather conditions and solar activity can cause noise
interference.
Cellular phone systems use several radio communications technology that divides a geographic
area into small areas or cells typically from one to several square miles in area. Each cell has its
own low-power transmitter or radio relay antenna device to relay calls from one cell to another.
This technology is used to support mobile phone service, and mobile voice and data
communications.
1. Important communications medium for mobile voice and data communications.
Disadvantage:
1. Not secured lines
Wireless LANs:
Are used to connect LAN's without the additional cost or inconvenience of wiring a building.
1. LAN radio uses radio transmissions to interconnect LAN components.
2. Infrared uses beans of infrared light to establish network links between LAN components.
3. Wireless LAN technology makes LANs easy to set up, relocate, and maintain.
Disadvantages:
1. High initial costs
2. Distance limitations.
Modems:
Modems are the most common type of communications processor, and are probably the most
widely used data communications hardware in business. Functions of modems include:
1. Convert digital computer signals to analog signals for transmitted over telephone lines, then to
receive these signals and convert them back to digital signals. This process is known as
modulation and demodulation. The word "modem" is a contraction of modulate and
demodulate.
Multiplexers
Internetwork Processors:
Hub - is a post switching communications processor. This allows for the sharing of the
network resources such as servers, LAN workstations, printers etc.
Novell NetWare or Microsoft Windows NT Server) Corporate Internets use network management
software like Netscape’s Enterprise Server. Many times, telecommunications software known as
middleware can help diverse networks communicate with each other.
Access Control:
This function establishes the connections between terminals and computers in a network. It may
involve:
1. Connects and disconnects communications links and establish communications parameters
such as transmission speed, mode, and direction.
2. Automatic telephone dialing and redialing
4. Logging on and off with appropriate account numbers and security codes
5. Automatic answering of telephone calls from another computer.
Transmission Control:
Network Management:
Error Control:
This function involves detection and correction of transmission errors. Errors are usually caused
by distortions in the communications channel, such as line noise and power surges. Control errors
in transmission by several methods:
1. Parity checking
2. Control code checking
3. Retransmissions of the message.
Security Management:
This function protects a communications network from unauthorized access by restricting access
to data files and other computing resources in LANs and other types of networks. Restriction
usually involves:
1. Control procedures that limit access to all or parts of a network by various categories of users,
as determined by the network manager or administrator of the network.
2. Automatic disconnection and call back procedure may be used.
3. Data transmissions can be protected by coding techniques called encryption.
6-12 Telecommunications Network Typologist:
Point-to-point line:
1. Each terminal (sending and receiving) is directly connect by their own line.
2. Point-to-point lines are more expensive than multidrop lines.
3. Point-to-point lines are used if there will be continuous connections between a computer and a
terminal or other computer system.
Multidrop Line:
1. Connects many devices, not just one sending device and one receiving device.
2. Cheaper than point-to-point lines because each line is shared by many terminals.
3. Communications processors such as multiplexers and concentrators are used on multidrop
lines to help many terminals share the same line.
Star Network
The star network, a popular network configuration, involves a central unit that has a number of
terminals tied into it.
Ring Network
A ring network is much like a bus network, except the length of wire, cable, or optical fiber
connects to form a loop
1. Local computer processors are tied together sequentially in a ring; with each device being
connected to two other devices.
2. Ring network has a decentralized approach.
3. Ring network is often used to link mainframes over wide distances.
4. Considered more reliable than less costly than star networks because if one computer the other
computers in the ring can continue to process their own work and communicate with each
other.
Advantages:
1. Ring networks do not require a central computer to control activity nor does it need a file
server.
2. Each computer connected to the network can communicate directly with the other computers
in the network by using the common communications channels, and each computer does its
own independent applications processing.
3. When one computer needs data from another computer, the data is passed along the ring. The
ring network is not as susceptible to breakdowns as the star network, because when one
computer in the ring fails, it does not necessarily affect the processing or communications
capabilities of the other computers in the ring.
Bus Network
In a bus network, a number of computers are connected by a single length of wire, cable, or
optical fiber.
1. All communications travel along this cable, which is called a bus.
2. Bus networks have a decentralized approach
Advantages:
1. There is no host computer or file server.
2. Often used to hook up a small group of microcomputers that share data.
3. Not as expensive as the star network, and, if one of the microcomputers fails, it does not affect
the entire network.
Until recently, there was a lack of sufficient standards for the interfaces between the hardware,
software, and communications channels of data communications networks. For this reason there
is often a lack of compatibility between the data communications hardware and software of
different manufacturers. This situation has:
1. Hampered the use of data communications
2. Increased data communications costs
3. Reduced data communications efficiency and effectiveness.
Industry Response: Computer manufacturers and national and international organizations have
developed standards called protocols and master plans called network architectures to support the
development of advanced data communications networks.
Protocols:
A protocol is the formal set of rules for communicating, including rules for timing of message
exchanges, the type of electrical connection used by the communications devices, error detection
techniques, means of gaining access to communications channels, and so on. The goal of
communications network architectures is to create more standardization and compatibility among
communications protocols.
Network architectures:
The goal of network architectures is to promote an open, simple, flexible, and efficient
telecommunications environment. This is accomplished by the use of:
1. Standard protocols
2. Standard communications hardware and software interfaces
The International Standards Organization (ISO) are working on the establishment of a standard
protocol for data transmission. They have developed a seven-layer Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) model to serve as a standard model for network architectures. Dividing
data communications functions into seven distinct layers promotes the development of modular
network architectures, which assists the development, operation, and maintenance of complex
telecommunications networks.
The form or method of communications affects the maximum rate at which data can be moved
through the channel and the level of noise that will exist.
Transmission Speed:
Band Width The communications speed and capacity of telecommunications networks can
be classified by bandwidth. This is the frequency range of a
telecommunications channel; it determines the channel’s maximum
transmission rate.
Baud Rate: The number of times per second that a data communications signal changes;
with each change, one or more bits can be transmitted - bits per second (BPS).
Voiceband Are low-speed analog channels which are normally used for voice
communications, but can also be used for data communications by
microcomputers, video terminals, and fax machines.
Medium-Band Are specially conditioned leased lines that can handle faster transmission.
Broadband Are high-speed digital channels which allow transmission rates at specific
intervals. They typically use microwave, fiber optics, or satellite transmission.
Circuit Switching - a link is established between the sender and the receiver, which remains in
effect until the communications session is completed (e.g., telephone).
Message Switching - a message is transmitted a block at a time from one switching device to
another.
Cell Switching ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) switch which breaks voice, video, and
other data into fixed cells, and routes them to their next destination in the
network.
Common telecommunications access methods are needed to control the access of communication
channels in networks in order to avoid conflict, since channels shared by multiple users or devices.
Contention Approach Line use is on a first come, first served basis, where a device can transmit
data if the channel is not in use, but must wait if it is busy.
Token Passing A special signal code, or token, is sent around the network, and if a
device wants to transmit a message, it must wait for the token to come
by, examine it to see if it is not in use, and attach its message to the token
with destination information.