Gateway (telecommunications)

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A gateway is a piece of networking hardware or software used in telecommunications networks that allows data to flow from one discrete network to another. Gateways are distinct from routers or switches in that they communicate using more than one protocol to connect multiple networks [1] [2] and can operate at any of the seven layers of the OSI model.

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The term gateway can also loosely refer to a computer or computer program configured to perform the tasks of a gateway, such as a default gateway or router, and in the case of HTTP, gateway is also often used as a synonym for reverse proxy. [3] It can also refer to a device installed in homes that combines router and modem functionality into one device, used by ISPs, also called a residential gateway. [4] [5] [6]

Network gateway

A network gateway provides a connection between networks and contains devices, such as protocol translators, impedance matchers, rate converters, fault isolators, or signal translators. A network gateway requires the establishment of mutually acceptable administrative procedures between the networks using the gateway. Network gateways, known as protocol translation gateways or mapping gateways, can perform protocol conversions to connect networks with different network protocol technologies. For example, a network gateway connects an office or home intranet to the Internet. If an office or home computer user wants to load a web page, at least two network gateways are accessed—one to get from the office or home network to the Internet and one to get from the Internet to the computer that serves the web page.

On an Internet Protocol (IP) network, IP packets with a destination outside a given subnetwork are sent to the network gateway. For example, if a private network has a base IPv4 address of 192.168.1.0 and has a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, then any data addressed to an IP address outside of 192.168.1.0–192.168.1.255 is sent to the network gateway. IPv6 networks work in a similar way. While forwarding an IP packet to another network, the gateway may perform network address translation.

In enterprise networks, a network gateway usually also acts as a proxy server and a firewall. [7]

On Microsoft Windows, the Internet Connection Sharing feature allows a computer to act as a gateway by offering a connection between the Internet and an internal network. [8] [9]

Internet-to-orbit gateway

An Internet-to-orbit gateway (I2O) connects computers or devices on the Internet to computer systems orbiting Earth, such as satellites or crewed spacecraft. Project HERMES, run by the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency, was first to implement this kind of gateway on June 6, 2009. [10] [11] Project HERMES has a maximum coverage of 22,000 km and can transmit voice and data. The Global Educational Network for Satellite Operations (GENSO) is another type of I2O gateway.

Cloud storage gateway

A cloud storage gateway is a network appliance or server which translates cloud storage APIs such as SOAP or REST to block-based storage protocols such as iSCSI, Fiber Channel or file-based interfaces such as NFS or CIFS. [12] [13] Cloud storage gateways enable companies to integrate private cloud storage into applications without moving the applications into a public cloud, [14] thereby simplifying data protection. [14]

IoT gateway

An Internet of things (IoT) gateway provides the bridge (protocol converter) between IoT devices in the field, the cloud, and user equipment such as smartphones. The IoT gateway provides a communication link between the field and the cloud, and may provide offline services and real-time control of devices in the field. [15] [16]

To achieve sustainable interoperability in the Internet of things ecosystem, [17] [18] two dominant architectures for data exchange protocols are used: bus-based (DDS, REST, XMPP) and broker-based (AMQP, CoAP, MQTT, JMI). Protocols that support information exchange between interoperable domains are classified as message-centric (AMQP, MQTT, JMS, REST) or data-centric (DDS, CoAP, XMPP). [19] [20] Interconnected devices communicate using lightweight protocols that don't require extensive CPU resources. C, Java, Python and some scripting languages are the preferred choices of IoT application developers.[ citation needed ] IoT nodes use separate IoT gateways to handle protocol conversion, database storage or decision making (e.g. collision handling), in order to supplement the low intelligence of devices.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Router (computing)</span> Device that forwards data packets between computer networks

A router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks. Routers perform the traffic directing functions between networks and on the global Internet. Data sent through a network, such as a web page or email, is in the form of data packets. A packet is typically forwarded from one router to another router through the networks that constitute an internetwork until it reaches its destination node.

Telnet is a client/server application protocol that provides access to virtual terminals of remote systems on local area networks or the Internet. It is a protocol for bidirectional 8-bit communications. Its main goal was to connect terminal devices and terminal-oriented processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Routing table</span> Data table stored in a router that lists the routes to network destinations

In computer networking, a routing table, or routing information base (RIB), is a data table stored in a router or a network host that lists the routes to particular network destinations, and in some cases, metrics (distances) associated with those routes. The routing table contains information about the topology of the network immediately around it.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for voice calls for the delivery of voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet.

In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, the network layer is layer 3. The network layer is responsible for packet forwarding including routing through intermediate routers.

An application layer is an abstraction layer that specifies the shared communication protocols and interface methods used by hosts in a communications network. An application layer abstraction is specified in both the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) and the OSI model. Although both models use the same term for their respective highest-level layer, the detailed definitions and purposes are different.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XMPP</span> Communications protocol for message-oriented middleware

Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol is an open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML, it enables the near-real-time exchange of structured data between two or more network entities. Designed to be extensible, the protocol offers a multitude of applications beyond traditional IM in the broader realm of message-oriented middleware, including signalling for VoIP, video, file transfer, gaming and other uses.

Message-oriented middleware (MOM) is software or hardware infrastructure supporting sending and receiving messages between distributed systems. MOM allows application modules to be distributed over heterogeneous platforms and reduces the complexity of developing applications that span multiple operating systems and network protocols. The middleware creates a distributed communications layer that insulates the application developer from the details of the various operating systems and network interfaces. APIs that extend across diverse platforms and networks are typically provided by MOM.

Internet security is a branch of computer security. It encompasses the Internet, browser security, web site security, and network security as it applies to other applications or operating systems as a whole. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to use against attacks over the Internet. The Internet is an inherently insecure channel for information exchange, with high risk of intrusion or fraud, such as phishing, online viruses, trojans, ransomware and worms.

In computer networks, a tunneling protocol is a communication protocol which allows for the movement of data from one network to another. It can, for example, allow private network communications to be sent across a public network, or for one network protocol to be carried over an incompatible network, through a process called encapsulation.

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Machine to machine (M2M) is direct communication between devices using any communications channel, including wired and wireless. Machine to machine communication can include industrial instrumentation, enabling a sensor or meter to communicate the information it records to application software that can use it. Such communication was originally accomplished by having a remote network of machines relay information back to a central hub for analysis, which would then be rerouted into a system like a personal computer.

The Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) is an open standard application layer protocol for message-oriented middleware. The defining features of AMQP are message orientation, queuing, routing, reliability and security.

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IP routing is the application of routing methodologies to IP networks. This involves not only protocols and technologies but includes the policies of the worldwide organization and configuration of Internet infrastructure. In each IP network node, IP routing involves the determination of a suitable path for a network packet from a source to its destination in an IP network. The process uses static configuration rules or dynamically obtained from routing protocols to select specific packet forwarding methods to direct traffic to the next available intermediate network node one hop closer to the desired final destination, a total path potentially spanning multiple computer networks.

MQTT is a lightweight, publish-subscribe, machine to machine network protocol for message queue/message queuing service. It is designed for connections with remote locations that have devices with resource constraints or limited network bandwidth, such as in the Internet of Things (IoT). It must run over a transport protocol that provides ordered, lossless, bi-directional connections—typically, TCP/IP, but also possibly over QUIC It is an open OASIS standard and an ISO recommendation.

The industrial internet of things (IIoT) refers to interconnected sensors, instruments, and other devices networked together with computers' industrial applications, including manufacturing and energy management. This connectivity allows for data collection, exchange, and analysis, potentially facilitating improvements in productivity and efficiency as well as other economic benefits. The IIoT is an evolution of a distributed control system (DCS) that allows for a higher degree of automation by using cloud computing to refine and optimize the process controls.

MQTT is an ISO standard publish–subscribe-based messaging protocol. It works on top of the Internet protocol suite TCP/IP. It is designed for connections with remote locations where a "small code footprint" is required or the network bandwidth is limited. The publish-subscribe messaging pattern requires a message broker.

References

  1. ↑ Network World. IDG Network World Inc. 1997-10-20.
  2. ↑ "CCNA Certification/Network Layer - Wikibooks, open books for an open world". en.wikibooks.org. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  3. ↑ Fielding, Roy T.; Reschke, Julian (June 2014). "Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Message Syntax and Routing - 2.3". IETF. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  4. ↑ Beasley, Jeffrey S.; Nilkaew, Piyasat (March 2012). Networking Essentials: Networking Essentials _c3. Pearson Education. ISBN   9780133381702.
  5. ↑ Rush, A. J. (June 2014). Your Computer, Your ISP, Your Internet. Lulu.com. ISBN   9781312239746.
  6. ↑ "PC Mag". 2 September 2003.
  7. ↑ Zhang, Peng (2010-08-26). Advanced Industrial Control Technology. William Andrew. ISBN   9781437778083.
  8. ↑ windows-sdk-content. "Using Wireless Hosted Network and Internet Connection Sharing - Windows applications". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  9. ↑ Zhang, Peng (2010-08-26). Advanced Industrial Control Technology. William Andrew. ISBN   9781437778083.
  10. ↑ ESAA. "ECUADORIAN CIVILIAN SPACE AGENCY ANNOUNCES THE CREATION OF THE FIRST INTERNET-TO-ORBIT GATEWAY: THE UNITED NATIONS INVITES EXA TO TRAIN SCIENTISTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD IN ITS USE".
  11. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-03-07. Retrieved 2009-09-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ↑ Orenstein, Gary (June 22, 2010). "GigaOm, Show Me the Gateway — Taking Storage to the Cloud". Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  13. ↑ Boles, Jeff (15 March 2011). "Cloud file storage pros and cons".
  14. 1 2 Slack, Eric (June 14, 2011). "Hybrid Cloud Appliances Simplify Data Storage Infrastructure". Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  15. ↑ Marvell Unveils Andromeda Box IoT Platform Made for Brillo Archived 2018-08-28 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 13 Nov.2015
  16. ↑ Amazon Web Services Announces AWS IoT. Archived 2018-08-28 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 13 Nov.2015
  17. ↑ "Internet of Things Global Standards Initiative". ITU. Retrieved 13 Nov.2015.
  18. ↑ Arshdeep Bahga, Vijay Madisetti. "Internet of Things (A Hands-on-Approach)". VPT; 1 edition (August 9, 2014)
  19. ↑ Stan Schneider. "What's the Difference between Message Centric and Data-Centric Middleware?". Electronic Design. Jul 6, 2012
  20. ↑ Bryon Moyer. "All About Messaging Protocols What Are the Differences?". EE JOURNAL. April 20, 2015

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