Isdn

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communications standards for

simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the traditional
circuits of the public switched telephone network. It was first defined in 1988 in the CCITT red book.
[1]
 Prior to ISDN, the phone system was viewed as a way to transport voice, with some special services
available for data. The key feature of ISDN is that it integrates speech and data on the same lines, adding
features that were not available in the classic telephone system. There are several kinds of access
interfaces to ISDN defined as Basic Rate Interface (BRI), Primary Rate Interface (PRI) and Broadband
ISDN (B-ISDN).

ISDN is a circuit-switched telephone network system, which also provides access to packet switched

networks, designed to allow digital transmission of voice and data over ordinarytelephone copper wires,
resulting in potentially better voice quality than an analog phone can provide. It offers circuit-switched
connections (for either voice or data), and packet-switched connections (for data), in increments of
64 kilobit/s

What is ISDN?
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication

standards allowing a single wire or optical fibre to carry simultaneous voice, digital network
services and/or video transmissions.

The telephone network is almost entirely digital, with the notable exception of the segment,
which links the customer and the local exchange. ISDN uses existing copper wire or optical
fibre to render this segment functionally digital as well.

With the ability to run on the regular copper phone wire, ISDN divides digital signals into
bearer channels (B channels) for voice and data transmission, and a data channel (D
channel) for signaling. B channels will typically have a bandwidth of 64 Kbps, while the D
channel will have a bandwidth in the range of 16 to 64 Kbps, depending on the type of ISDN
service.

The two types of ISDN services are Basic Rate Interface (BRI) and Primary Rate Interface
(PRI). BRI is ideal for most individual users and small or low-traffic LANs, while PRI is
intended to meet greater capacity requirements, such as that of small Internet Service
Providers or other organizations providing dialup access.

BRI comprises two B channels and one 16 Kbps D channel. PRI will typically have 23 B
channels and one 64 Kbps D channel. In addition, multiple PRI lines can be supported with a
single 64 Kbps D channel using Non-Facility Associated Signaling (NFAS).
Advantages and Disadvantages 
Besides the obvious advantage of a significant increase in speed (up to five times faster
than a standard analog connection), the other really big advantage of ISDN is its flexibility.
It gives you the ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. Using the multiple
channels of ISDN, you can fax or speak on the phone while you surf the Net all on the same
phone wire.

Not only is ISDN flexible, it's also fairly intelligent. For example, with BRI ISDN, you could
be using both B channels for a total bandwidth of 128 Kbps while you surf, and suddenly
you get an incoming call. Your ISDN terminal adapter can automatically drop you down to a
single 64 Kbps B channel for data and let the other channel carry the voice call. Of course,
this function must be supported by the hardware you are using, but most ISDN products do
have such capability.

Technical Definition of Broadband:

         Broadband refers to telecommunication that provides multiple

channels of data over a single communications medium, typically
using some form of frequency or wave division multiplexing

The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than

another standard or usual signal (and the broader the band, the greater the capacity for traffic). Different
criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times. Its origin is in radio
systems engineering, but became popularized after MediaOne adopted it as part of a marketing campaign
in 1996 to sell their high speed data access.

In telecommunication
Broadband in telecommunications refers to a signaling method that includes or handles a relatively wide
range (or band) of frequencies, which may be divided into channels or frequency bins. Broadband is
always a relative term, understood according to its context. The wider (or broader) the bandwidth of a
channel, the greater the information-carrying capacity.

ATM

Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a cell-based switching technique that uses asynchronous time-division

multiplexing.[1][2] It encodes data into small fixed-sized cells (cell relay) and provides data link
layer services that run over OSI Layer 1 physical links. This differs from other technologies based on
packet-switched networks (such as the Internet Protocol orEthernet), in which variable
sized packets (known as frames when referencing Layer 2) are used. ATM exposes properties from
both circuit switched and small packet switched networking, making it suitable for wide area data
networking as well as real-time media transport.[3] ATM uses a connection-oriented model and establishes
a virtual circuit between two endpoints before the actual data exchange begins.[4] ATM is a core protocol
used over the SONET/SDH backbone of the Integrated Services Digital Network.