Telecommunications network

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A telecommunications network is a group of nodes interconnected by telecommunications links that are used to exchange messages between the nodes. The links may use a variety of technologies based on the methodologies of circuit switching, message switching, or packet switching, to pass messages and signals.

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Multiple nodes may cooperate to pass the message from an originating node to the destination node, via multiple network hops. For this routing function, each node in the network is assigned a network address for identification and locating it on the network. The collection of addresses in the network is called the address space of the network.

Examples of telecommunications networks include computer networks, the Internet, the public switched telephone network (PSTN), the global Telex network, the aeronautical ACARS network, [1] and the wireless radio networks of cell phone telecommunication providers.

Network structure

this is the structure of network general, every telecommunications network conceptually consists of three parts, or planes (so-called because they can be thought of as being and often are, separate overlay networks):

Data networks

Data networks are used extensively throughout the world for communication between individuals and organizations. Data networks can be connected to allow users seamless access to resources that are hosted outside of the particular provider they are connected to. The Internet is the best example of the internetworking of many data networks from different organizations.

Terminals attached to IP networks like the Internet are addressed using IP addresses. Protocols of the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) provide the control and routing of messages across the and IP data network. There are many different network structures that IP can be used across to efficiently route messages, for example:

There are three features that differentiate MANs from LANs or WANs:

  1. The area of the network size is between LANs and WANs. The MAN will have a physical area between 5 and 50 km in diameter. [2]
  2. MANs do not generally belong to a single organization. The equipment that interconnects the network, the links, and the MAN itself are often owned by an association or a network provider that provides or leases the service to others. [2]
  3. A MAN is a means for sharing resources at high speeds within the network. It often provides connections to WAN networks for access to resources outside the scope of the MAN. [2]

Data center networks also rely highly on TCP/IP for communication across machines. They connect thousands of servers, are designed to be highly robust, provide low latency and high bandwidth. Data center network topology plays a significant role in determining the level of failure resiliency, ease of incremental expansion, communication bandwidth and latency. [3]

Capacity and speed

In analogy to the improvements in the speed and capacity of digital computers, provided by advances in semiconductor technology and expressed in the bi-yearly doubling of transistor density, which is described empirically by Moore's law, the capacity and speed of telecommunications networks have followed similar advances, for similar reasons. In telecommunication, this is expressed in Edholm's law, proposed by and named after Phil Edholm in 2004. [4] This empirical law holds that the bandwidth of telecommunication networks doubles every 18 months, which has proven to be true since the 1970s. [4] [5] The trend is evident in the Internet, [4] cellular (mobile), wireless and wired local area networks (LANs), and personal area networks. [5] This development is the consequence of rapid advances in the development of metal-oxide-semiconductor technology. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Internet</span>

The history of the Internet has its origin in the efforts of scientists and engineers to build and interconnect computer networks. The Internet Protocol Suite, the set of rules used to communicate between networks and devices on the Internet, arose from research and development in the United States and involved international collaboration, particularly with researchers in the United Kingdom and France.

Quality of service (QoS) is the description or measurement of the overall performance of a service, such as a telephony or computer network, or a cloud computing service, particularly the performance seen by the users of the network. To quantitatively measure quality of service, several related aspects of the network service are often considered, such as packet loss, bit rate, throughput, transmission delay, availability, jitter, etc.

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

A router is a computer and networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks, including internetworks such as the global Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wireless network</span> Computer network not fully connected by cables

A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. Wireless networking allows homes, telecommunications networks, and business installations to avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment locations. Admin telecommunications networks are generally implemented and administered using radio communication. This implementation takes place at the physical level (layer) of the OSI model network structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wide area network</span> Computer network that connects devices across a large distance and area

A wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunications network that extends over a large geographic area. Wide area networks are often established with leased telecommunication circuits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frame Relay</span> Wide area network technology

Frame Relay is a standardized wide area network (WAN) technology that specifies the physical and data link layers of digital telecommunications channels using a packet switching methodology. Originally designed for transport across Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) infrastructure, it may be used today in the context of many other network interfaces.

Telephony is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunications services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is intimately linked to the invention and development of the telephone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan area network</span> Computer network serving a populated area

A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a computer network that interconnects users with computer resources in a geographic region of the size of a metropolitan area. The term MAN is applied to the interconnection of local area networks (LANs) in a city into a single larger network which may then also offer efficient connection to a wide area network. The term is also used to describe the interconnection of several LANs in a metropolitan area through the use of point-to-point connections between them.

Network congestion in data networking and queueing theory is the reduced quality of service that occurs when a network node or link is carrying more data than it can handle. Typical effects include queueing delay, packet loss or the blocking of new connections. A consequence of congestion is that an incremental increase in offered load leads either only to a small increase or even a decrease in network throughput.

Internet traffic is the flow of data within the entire Internet, or in certain network links of its constituent networks. Common traffic measurements are total volume, in units of multiples of the byte, or as transmission rates in bytes per certain time units.

In telecommunications networks, a node is either a redistribution point or a communication endpoint.

An overlay network is a computer network that is layered on top of another network. The concept of overlay networking is distinct from the traditional model of OSI layered networks, and almost always assumes that the underlay network is an IP network of some kind.

A public data network (PDN) is a network established and operated by a telecommunications administration, or a recognized private operating agency, for the specific purpose of providing data transmission services for the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of telecommunication</span>

The history of telecommunication began with the use of smoke signals and drums in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. In the 1790s, the first fixed semaphore systems emerged in Europe. However, it was not until the 1830s that electrical telecommunication systems started to appear. This article details the history of telecommunication and the individuals who helped make telecommunication systems what they are today. The history of telecommunication is an important part of the larger history of communication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer network</span> Network that allows computers to share resources and communicate with each other

A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. Computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections are made up of telecommunication network technologies based on physically wired, optical, and wireless radio-frequency methods that may be arranged in a variety of network topologies.

Bandwidth management is the process of measuring and controlling the communications on a network link, to avoid filling the link to capacity or overfilling the link, which would result in network congestion and poor performance of the network. Bandwidth is described by bit rate and measured in units of bits per second (bit/s) or bytes per second (B/s).

Edholm's law, proposed by and named after Phil Edholm, refers to the observation that the three categories of telecommunication, namely wireless (mobile), nomadic and wired networks (fixed), are in lockstep and gradually converging. Edholm's law also holds that data rates for these telecommunications categories increase on similar exponential curves, with the slower rates trailing the faster ones by a predictable time lag. Edholm's law predicts that the bandwidth and data rates double every 18 months, which has proven to be true since the 1970s. The trend is evident in the cases of Internet, cellular (mobile), wireless LAN and wireless personal area networks.

In computing, bandwidth is the maximum rate of data transfer across a given path. Bandwidth may be characterized as network bandwidth, data bandwidth, or digital bandwidth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telecommunications</span> Transmission of information electromagnetically

Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information with an immediacy comparable to face-to-face communication. As such, slow communications technologies like postal mail and pneumatic tubes are excluded from the definition. Many transmission media have been used for telecommunications throughout history, from smoke signals, beacons, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs to wires and empty space made to carry electromagnetic signals. These paths of transmission may be divided into communication channels for multiplexing, allowing for a single medium to transmit several concurrent communication sessions. Several methods of long-distance communication before the modern era used sounds like coded drumbeats, the blowing of horns, and whistles. Long-distance technologies invented during the 20th and 21st centuries generally use electric power, and include the telegraph, telephone, television, and radio.

In digital communications networks, packet processing refers to the wide variety of algorithms that are applied to a packet of data or information as it moves through the various network elements of a communications network. With the increased performance of network interfaces, there is a corresponding need for faster packet processing.

References

  1. ↑ "Telecommunication Network - Types of Telecommunication Networks". Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-07-14.[ self-published source? ]
  2. 1 2 3 "Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)". Erg.abdn.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-10-10. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  3. ↑ Noormohammadpour, Mohammad; Raghavendra, Cauligi (28 July 2018). "Datacenter Traffic Control: Understanding Techniques and Tradeoffs". IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials. 20 (2): 1492–1525. arXiv: 1712.03530 . doi:10.1109/COMST.2017.2782753. S2CID   28143006.
  4. 1 2 3 Cherry, Steven (2004). "Edholm's law of bandwidth". IEEE Spectrum. 41 (7): 58–60. doi:10.1109/MSPEC.2004.1309810. S2CID   27580722.
  5. 1 2 Deng, Wei; Mahmoudi, Reza; van Roermund, Arthur (2012). Time Multiplexed Beam-Forming with Space-Frequency Transformation. New York: Springer. p. 1. ISBN   9781461450450.
  6. ↑ Jindal, Renuka P. (2009). "From millibits to terabits per second and beyond – over 60 years of innovation". 2009 2nd International Workshop on Electron Devices and Semiconductor Technology. pp. 1–6. doi:10.1109/EDST.2009.5166093. ISBN   978-1-4244-3831-0. S2CID   25112828. Archived from the original on 2019-08-23. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
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