Telecommunications

Networks

HARISH MORWANI
harishmorwani@gmail.com
 Communications
Communications may be defined as the
transmission of a signal by way of a medium from
sender to receiver.

Transmission
Medium

Sender Signal Receiver

 Telecommunications
● Telecommunications - the electronic
transmission of signals for communication
– Telephone

– Radio

– Television
Telecommunications Network
● A telecommunications network is a
network of telecommunications links and
nodes arranged so that messages may be
passed from one part of the network to
another over multiple links and through
various nodes.
 PSTN - The Ist
Telecommunication Network
● PSTN (public switched telephone network) is the
world's collection of interconnected voice-oriented
public telephone networks, both commercial and
government-owned. It's also referred to as the
Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)
● Most of the Telephone lines provided by Public
Switched Telephone Network had analog
connections which transmits data in the form of
electrical pulses.
● Now the trend is towards digital technology
 Quality of Service
● Quality of Service (QoS) refers to control
mechanisms that can provide different
priority to different users or data flows, or
guarantee a certain level of performance to
a data flow in accordance with requests
from the application program
 Local Exchange Carrier
● Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) is a
regulatory term in telecommunications for
the local telephone company.
● In the United States, wire line telephone
companies are divided into two large
categories: long distance (inter-exchange
carrier, or IXCs) and local (local exchange
carrier, or LECs).
 Local Exchange Carrier
● Local phone calls are defined as calls originating
and terminating within a Local Access and
Transport Area (LATA)
● LATA-The geographical areas defining local
telephone service. Any call within a LATA is
handled by the local telephone company, but calls
between LATAs must be handled by long-distance
companies, even if the same local telephone
company provides service in both LATAs
 Local Exchange Carrier
LATAs are linked to SLCs by means of copper
wires.
● (Subscriber Loop Carrier) A system that
allows one pair of wires, that would
normally provide one phone line, to carry
multiple conversations.
 Long Distance Tx. Media
● Guided – wire Unguided – wireless
– Twisted Pair Microwave
– Coaxial cable Satellite
– Optical fiber Infra-red
Cellular phone system

● For guided, the medium is more important

● For unguided, the bandwidth produced by the
antenna is more important
 Standards & Regulations
● Standards are used to ensure that there is
smooth transmission of calls placed by
subscribers of two different companies.
● Telecommunication standards are governed
by ITU (International Telecommunication
Union)
 Network Access Alternatives
● There are various alternatives for accessing
a Network like
– PBX
– CELLULAR TELEPHONES
– LEASED LINES
 PBX

Private branch exchange (PBX) - a common internal phone

switching system for medium to large-sized businesses.
Provides advanced intelligent features to users, such as:
4-digit, special prefixes for WATS (wide area telephone
service)
PBX collects dialed digits and intelligently decides how to
route this call for fastest speed
 PBX

Additional advanced features:

Voice mail
Routes incoming calls to the best station set (automatic call
distribution)
Provides recorded messages and responds to touch-tone
requests (automated attendant)
Access to database storage and retrieval (interactive voice
response)
Cellular Telephones
 Leased Lines
● Many home computer users use POTS lines
and conventional modems to connect to
other computer systems.
● What if you need a faster service, or need
one that is always on? You can get a leased
line service.
● A basic leased line, or tie line, gives you a
56 Kbps data transfer rate.
 Business Applications
● Enterprise Collaboration System
● Electronic Commerce System
● Internal Business System
 Enterprise Collaboration
System
● When decisions have to be made, you need
complete and accurate information wherever you
are. (ECS comes in picture)
● It facilitate communication, coordination and
collaboration among the members of an
organization by giving them real-time Web
conferencing, files at your fingertips, and a single
inbox for your email, voicemail, and fax—all with
wireless and voice access.
 Electronic Commerce System
● E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC)
is the buying and selling of goods and
services on the Internet.
 Internal Business System
● Interconnection of different
branches/departments of the
organization by linking LANs or WANs
so that Managers can make inquiries and
generate reports from corporate
databases stored on distant network
servers.
 Business Value of
Telecommunications
● Helps a company overcome geographic,
time, cost and structural barriers
● Helps to provide better customer service
● Simplifies business processes (e.g.
eliminates expensive business trips)
● Customers, Suppliers and employees can
participate in meetings through
teleconferencing
 Components of
Telecommunication Network

● Terminals
● Telecommunication Processors
● Telecommunication Channels
● Computers
● Telecommunication Control Software
 Terminals
● Any I/O device that uses
telecommunication network to transmit or
receive data
 Telecommunication
Processors
● Devices that are used for data transmission
& reception eg. Modem, Switch, Router etc.
 Telecommunication Channels
● The media over which data is transmitted &
received
 Guess What??????

NOT DOG!!! COMPUTER

ANY DESCRITION REQUIRED?
 Telecommunication Control
Software
● Program that control telecommunication
activities and manage the functions of the
telecommunication network eg. Web
browsers
 TELECOMMUNICATION MEDIA
● Medium is the physical path between transmitter
and receiver in a data transmission system
● Guided Medium: waves are guided along a solid
medium path (twisted pair, coaxial cable, and
optical fiber).
● Unguided medium: waves are propagated through
the atmosphere and inner/outer space (satellite,
laser, and wireless transmissions).
 TWISTED PAIR WIRE
STP-cable UTP-cable
● Physical description:
– Each wire with copper conductor
– Separately insulated wires
– Twisted together to reduce cross talk
– Often bundled into cables of two or four twisted pairs
– If enclosed in a sheath then is shielded twisted pair (STP)
otherwise often for home usage unshielded twisted pair (UTP).
Must be shield from voltage lines
● Application:
– Common in building for digital signaling used at speed of 10’s
Mb/s (CAT3) and 100Mb/s (CAT5) over 100s meters.
– Common for telephone interconnection at home and office
buildings
– Less expensive medium; limited in distance, bandwidth, and data
rate.
 COAXIAL CABLE
● Widely installed for use in business and
other types of LANs.
● Consists of inter copper insulator covered
by cladding material, and then covered by
an outer jacket

 Inner conductor is solid copper metal

 Separated by insulating material

 Outer conductor is braided shielded (ground)

 Covered by sheath material
 COAXIAL CABLE
● Applications:
– TV distribution (cable tv); long distance telephone transmission;
short run computer system links
– Local area networks
● Transmission characteristics:
– Can transmit analog and digital signals
– Usable spectrum for analog signaling is about 400 Mhz
– Amplifier needed for analog signals for less than 1 Km and less
distance for higher frequency
– Repeater needed for digital signals every Km or less distance for
higher data rates
– Operation of 100’s Mb/s over 1 Km.
 OPTICAL FIBRE
● Physical Description:
– Glass or plastic core of optical fiber = 2to125 µm
– Cladding is an insulating material
– Jacket is a protective cover
– Laser or light emitting diode provides transmission
light source
 Applications:
● Long distance telecommunication
● Greater capacity; 2 Gb/s over 10’s of Km
● Smaller size and lighter weight
● Lower attenuation (reduction in strength of signal)
● Electromagnetic isolation – not effected by external
electromagnetic environment. More privacy
● Greater repeater spacing – fewer repeaters, reduces line
regeneration cost
 Terrestrial Microwave
● Electromagnetic waves with a very high frequency
ranging from 1000-30000 MHz are called
microwaves
● Physical applications:
– Terrestrial microwave – long haul telecommunication
service (alternative to coaxial or optical fiber)
– Few amplifier and repeaters
– Propagation via towers located without blockage from
trees, etc (towers less than 60 miles apart)
Concept of repeaters
 Communication Satelite
● Satellite is a microwave relay station placed in outer space
● Placed 36000 kms above the equator with an orbit speed that exactly
matches the earth’s rotation speed. This allows a ground station to aim
its antenna at a fixed point in the sky
● Satellite ground stations are aligned to the space satellite, establishes a
link, broadcast at a specified frequency. Ground station normally
operate at a number of frequencies – full duplex
● Satellite space antenna is aligned to the ground station establishes a
link and transmits at the specified frequency. Satellite are capable of
transmitting at multiple frequencies simultaneously, full duplex.
● The transmission frequency (Ground station) is 4GHz and
retransmission frequency (Satellite) is 6GHz to avoid interference with
the incoming signal
 Characteristics
● Each satellite can receive back its own
transmission & check whether the tx. was proper
or not. Can retransmit in case of error
● The tx. And reception cost is independent of the
location
● Too expensive
● Signal is broadcasted so proper security measures
are necessary to prevent unauthorized tampering
of data
 MODEM
● It stands for MOdulator-DEModulator
● Modulation: Digital to Analog
● Demodulation: Analog to Digital

MOdulator DEMOdulator
 Multiplexing
● The combining of two or more information
channels onto a common transmission
medium.
 Frequency Division
Multiplexing

● The deriving of two or more simultaneous,

continuous channels from a transmission
medium by assigning a separate portion of
the available frequency spectrum to each of
the individual channels.
● Transmission is organized in frequency
channels, assigned for an exclusive use by a
single user at a time
 Time Division Multiplexing
• A single carrier frequency channel is shared
by a number of users, one after another.
Transmission is organized in repetitive
“time-frames”. Each frame consists of
groups of pulses - time slots.
• Each user is assigned a separate time-slot
 Inter-networked Processors
● Switches: Connects different telecomm. circuits in
a network so that a message can reach to its
intended destination
● Routers: Interconnects networks based on
different protocols, so that a message can be
routed to its destination
Inter-networked Processors
● Hubs: Provides automatic switching among
connections called ports for shared access
to a network resource
● Gateways: Interconnects networks that use
different communication architectures
 Telecommunication Software
● These software package provides a variety of
communication support services like
● Access Control Establishes comm. parameters
such as tx. Speed, mode & direction. (User
specific services such as Automatic Telephone
dialing and automatic answering of telephone calls
etc.)
● Tx. Control Tx. in the form of files. Error
checking & correction
 Telecommunication Software

● Network Mgmt. Software such as

Network Operating System determine tx.
priorities (Waiting queues of Tx. requests)
● Error Control Errors caused by distortion
in the channel can be detected & corrected
by the software. Re-Tx. in case of errors
● Security Mgmt. Protects the network
from unauthorized access (Encryption)
 Communication Channels
(ANALOG V/S DIGITAL)

● Analog: Continuously varying quantities

● Digital: 2 possible values (on/off; 0/1)

Voltage
Voltage

Time Time

Analog Digital
 (ANALOG V/S DIGITAL)
ANALOG DIGITAL
Voice Tx. Data, Voice & Video Tx,
Electrical pulses Discrete pulses

Useful for long distance tx. Short distance Tx.

Digital-to-analog Problems like attenuation,
conversion is done for long Higher power requirements
distance Tx. etc. may arise
 Switching Alternatives
(Circuit Switching)
● Circuit switching is a dedicated communications path
established between two stations or multiple end points
through nodes of the WAN
● Transmission path is a connected sequence of physical link
between nodes.
● On each link, a logical channel is dedicated to the
connection. Data generated by the source station are
transmitted along dedicated path as rapidly as possible.
● At each node, incoming data are routed or switched to the
appropriate outgoing channel without excessive delay.
However, if data processing is required, some delay is
experienced.
● Example of circuit switching above is the telephone
networks.
 Circuit Switching
● It’s the method Boston
Switch
LA

used by the Switch

telephone network Caller Callee

● A call has three
phases: processing delay at switch

propagation
1. Establish circuit delay
between
from end-to-end (1)
caller and
(“dialing”), and Boston
switch
2. Communicate, (2)

3. Close circuit DATA

(“tear down”).
● If circuit not (3)

available: “busy
signal”
 Packet Switching
Technologies
● It is not necessary (as in circuit switching) to dedicate transmission
capacity along a path through the WAN rather data are sent out in a
sequence of small chucks, called packets.
● Each packet, consisting of several bits is passed through the network
from node to node along some path leading from the source to the
destination
● At each node along the path, the entire packet is received, stored
briefly, and then transmitted to the next node.
● At destination all individual packets are assembled together to form
the complete text and message from the source. Each packet is
identified as to its place in the overall text for reassembly.
● Packet switching networks are commonly used for computer-to-
computer communications.
● If packet errors occur, the packet is retransmitted.
 Packet Switching
 Used in the Internet
 Data is sent in Packets Host 1 Host 2
(header contains control
Node 1 Node 2
info, e.g., source and
destination addresses)

propagation
Header Data
delay
between
Host 1 &
transmiss processing
Node 2
 Per-packet routing ion
time of
Packet 1
Packet 2 delay of
 At each node the entire Packet 1
at Host 1
Packet 1 Packet 1
Packet 3
packet is received, stored, Packet 2 at Node 2
and then forwarded (store- Packet 3
Packet 1

and-forward networks) Packet 2

Packet 3
 No capacity is allocated
 Packet switching also show
reordering
Packets in a flow may not follow the same path (depends on
routing as we will see later)  packets may be reordered
Host C

Host A Host D

Node 1 Node 2
Node 3

Node 5

Host B
Node 7 Host E
Node 6
Node 4
Differences Between Circuit & Packet Switching

Circuit-switching Packet-Switching

Guaranteed capacity No guarantees

Capacity is wasted if data More efficient

is bursty (variable tx. rate)

Before sending data Send data immediately

establishes a path
All data in a single flow Different packets might
follow one path follow different paths
No reordering; constant Packets may be reordered,
delay; no pkt drops delayed, or dropped
 ATM

● Asynchronous Transfer Mode

● A low-layer networking technology based on fast
packet-switching of small fixed size packets called
cells
● All slots are the same size (53 bytes = 1 ATM cell
 48 bytes data+5 bytes control information)
● ATM provides a single transport mechanism for
integrated services traffic: data, voice, video,
image, graphics...
 Bandwidth Alternatives
● Bandwidth
– Voice-band Low speed Analog channels(300
to 6600 bps)
– Medium-band Medium speed channels (9600
bps to 100 mbps)
– Broad-band High speed digital channels
(256000 bps to several billion bps)
Telecommunication Equipment
for WAN
● Point of Presence (POP): It usually means a city or
a location where a network can be connected to
another one. POP allows customers to access
WAN by means of a local analog telephone
● Backbone: It carries the most traffic on a
communication network. LANs are connected to
the backbone via bridges and routers. Backbone
serves as a communication highway for LAN-to-
LAN traffic
 Applications of WAN
● LAN-to-LAN Connections

● Transaction Acquisition: Information about a transaction

can be instantly relayed. The POS terminal is linked to the
network and the acquired data is collected for accounting.
● Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): Electronic Data
Interchange is the electronic transmission of business
documents between vendor and customer computer
systems. The use of EDI guarantees optimal efficiency and
accuracy of the purchasing cycle.