‫‪Republic of Iraq‬‬ ‫جمهورية العراق‬

‫‪Ministry of Higher Education and‬‬ ‫وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي‬

‫‪Scientific Research‬‬ ‫جامع ــة باب ــل‬
‫‪University of Babylon‬‬ ‫كلي ـ ــة تكنولوجيا املعلوما‬
‫‪College of Information Technology‬‬ ‫قسم شبكا املعلوما‬
‫‪Department of Information Network‬‬ ‫التقرير النهائي‬

‫التقرير النهائي‬
‫للعام الدراس ي ‪ 2020-2019‬الفصل الدراس ي (االول)‬

‫‪WAN physical layer concepts‬‬

‫اعداد الطالب‬
‫أحمد زهير هادي محمد الياسين‬

‫ملادة(‪ )WAN TECHNOLOGY‬املرحلة ( الرابعة ) الدراسة( املسائي )‬

‫بأشراف االستاذ‬

‫م‪.‬عالء حمود الجراح‬

 Republic of Iraq ‫جمهورية العراق‬
Ministry of Higher Education and ‫وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي‬
Scientific Research ‫جامع ــة باب ــل‬
University of Babylon ‫كلي ـ ــة تكنولوجيا املعلوما‬
College of Information Technology ‫قسم شبكا املعلوما‬
Department of Information Network ‫التقرير النهائي‬

Introduction to WANs

Introduction

In the previous chapters, we have been primarily focused on LAN technologies,

however, as an enterprise grows, so does its networking needs. Consider company
ABC, they formed in 2010 in New York, however, over the last couple of years they
have grown rapidly and they now have three branches, one in Los Angeles, Miami
and they recently diversified into London.

LANs would not be viable for communication over the four geographical
information, and therefore there is need for WANs to be incorporated. In the next
few chapters, we will look at the various WAN technologies that enterprises can use.

In this chapter, we will look at some of the concepts and technologies that are used
in the WAN.

Definition of a WAN

A WAN network can be defined as a network that extends and operates over a larger
geographical area as compared to a LAN.

Unlike LAN networks, which connect users and intermediary devices within a small
area such as a building complex, WAN networks are large and they span over large
geographical distances. The administration of the WAN is usually by the service
provider and therefore for an enterprise to use the WAN, they have to pay.
 Republic of Iraq ‫جمهورية العراق‬
Ministry of Higher Education and ‫وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي‬
Scientific Research ‫جامع ــة باب ــل‬
University of Babylon ‫كلي ـ ــة تكنولوجيا املعلوما‬
College of Information Technology ‫قسم شبكا املعلوما‬
Department of Information Network ‫التقرير النهائي‬

The characteristics that mainly differentiate the WANs from the LANs are:

 Geographical scope. WANs can extend over very large geographical distances
 The WAN networks are mainly administered by the service providers such as
cable companies, internet service providers among others.
 In the LANs, we primarily use parallel connections between the various
devices, whereas in the WAN we mainly use the serial cables since they can
span over large distances.

-WANs and the OSI Model

The operation of the WAN is usually at the physical and the data link layers of the
OSI model. The standards that are used usually describe how the signals are
transmitted, and how the frames are addressed, encapsulated and given flow control.

At the physical layer, the WAN describes how electrical signals are transmitted, the
types of cables, the speeds and the connections from the ISPs perspective.

At the data link layer, the encapsulation method, flow control, addressing of the
frames are described.
 Republic of Iraq ‫جمهورية العراق‬
Ministry of Higher Education and ‫وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي‬
Scientific Research ‫جامع ــة باب ــل‬
University of Babylon ‫كلي ـ ــة تكنولوجيا املعلوما‬
College of Information Technology ‫قسم شبكا املعلوما‬
Department of Information Network ‫التقرير النهائي‬

-WAN physical layer concepts

There are several concepts that describe the operation of WANs at the physical
layer. The diagram below shows some of the terms that are used in relation to WAN
technologies.

 CPE (Customer Premises Equipment – these are the devices that are used by the
subscriber to connect to the service provider.
 DCE (Data Communications Equipment) – this is the device that is used to
terminate data to the local loop. This means that it gets data from the DTE
devices such as the router and converts it into a form that can be transmitted
over the physical medium of the ISP.
 Republic of Iraq ‫جمهورية العراق‬
Ministry of Higher Education and ‫وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي‬
Scientific Research ‫جامع ــة باب ــل‬
University of Babylon ‫كلي ـ ــة تكنولوجيا املعلوما‬
College of Information Technology ‫قسم شبكا املعلوما‬
Department of Information Network ‫التقرير النهائي‬

 DTE (Data Terminal Equipment) – this are the devices that get the data from
the DCE and transmit them to the inside network, typically, a router is usually
the DTE device.
 Demarcation point – this is the point in the network where the service provider
and the customer have agreed upon as to where responsibility for the WAN
connection changes. It can be described as a border between the ISP and the
CUSTOMER.
 Local loop – the cables that connect the CPE to the service provider is called
the local loop. Typically, this can be a cable that connects the company from
the main cabling closet to the main trunk cable.
 Central Office – this is a building that is used by an ISP to provide services to a
particular area.

Physical layer protocols

The physical layer standard used in the WAN are shown below. They describe how
the DTE and DCE interact, the electrical standards, the cabling types as well as the
connectors to be used.

 EIA/TIA- 232 is a protocol that specifies speeds of up to 64Kbps using a 25 pin

connector for short distances.
 EIA/TIA- 449/530 is a standard protocol that uses a 36 pin connector and offers
speeds of up to 2Mbps, it can also span over larger distances than the EIA/TIA
standard.
 Republic of Iraq ‫جمهورية العراق‬
Ministry of Higher Education and ‫وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي‬
Scientific Research ‫جامع ــة باب ــل‬
University of Babylon ‫كلي ـ ــة تكنولوجيا املعلوما‬
College of Information Technology ‫قسم شبكا املعلوما‬
Department of Information Network ‫التقرير النهائي‬

 EIA/TIA -612/613 is a standard that provides speeds of up to 52Mbps using a

60 pin connector. It is also reffered to as (HSSI) High Speed Serial Interface
Protocol.
 V.35 is an ITU standard used between a DCE and DTE device, it offers speeds
of up to 2Mbps using a 34 pin connector.
 X.21 protocol is defined by the ITU and it uses a 15 pin connector.

WAN connection options

Circuit Switching

In this type of connection, there is usually a dedicated circuit between the source and
destination network, through the ISP. An example of this is when a person makes a
telephone call. The dialed number is used to set switches in the exchanges along the
route of the call so that there is a continuous circuit from the caller to the called
party.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) and PSTN (Public Switched Telephone
Network) are good examples of Circuit switched WAN technologies.

Packet switching

In this type of connection, the data is split and transmitted over the common
network, the packets are then reassembled at the destination network. With this type
of connection, many user nodes can use the same network.

With this connection option, we have two ways to determine the type of link in use.
 Republic of Iraq ‫جمهورية العراق‬
Ministry of Higher Education and ‫وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي‬
Scientific Research ‫جامع ــة باب ــل‬
University of Babylon ‫كلي ـ ــة تكنولوجيا املعلوما‬
College of Information Technology ‫قسم شبكا املعلوما‬
Department of Information Network ‫التقرير النهائي‬

 Connectionless systems – each packet contains full address information

 Connection oriented – these systems first determine the route to the destination
before sending the packets.

Data Link Protocols

There are various Data link layer protocols that are used in the WAN. These define
how the data is communicated from the source network to the destination. There are
various protocols that can be used. In this course however, we will discuss the
protocols listed below.

 HDLC
 Frame relay
 PPP

WAN technologies in use

There are several technologies that are employed in the WAN, in this course,
however, you are not expected to configure them. Most of these technologies are
covered in more advanced courses such as CCNP.

 DSL
 3g/4g
 T1/E1
 VSAT
 ISDN
 metro Ethernet
 Republic of Iraq ‫جمهورية العراق‬
Ministry of Higher Education and ‫وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي‬
Scientific Research ‫جامع ــة باب ــل‬
University of Babylon ‫كلي ـ ــة تكنولوجيا املعلوما‬
College of Information Technology ‫قسم شبكا املعلوما‬
Department of Information Network ‫التقرير النهائي‬

 cable
In as much as these technologies have not been discussed in this course, it would be
wise to research them and know what they entail.

Summary

In this Report, we have introduced the WAN and discussed the various WAN
technologies in use today.