Reading: Telecommunications

Network

Example of how nodes may be interconnected with links to form a

telecommunications network. This example is tree-like but many networks
have loops.
A telecommunications network is a collection of terminal
nodes, links and any intermediate nodes which are
connected so as to enable telecommunication between the
terminals.
The transmission links connect the nodes together. The
nodes use circuit switching, message switching or packet
switching to pass the signal through the correct links and
nodes to reach the correct destination terminal.
Each terminal in the network usually has a unique address
so messages or connections can be routed to the correct
recipients. The collection of addresses in the network is
called the address space.
Examples of telecommunications networks are:
• computer networks
• the Internet
• the telephone network
• the global Telex network
• the aeronautical ACARS network
Benefits of Telecommunications and Networking

Telecommunications can greatly increase and expand

resources to all types of people. For example, businesses
need a greater telecommunications network if they plan to
expand their company. With Internet, computer, and
telephone networks, businesses can allocate their resources
efficiently. These core types of networks will be discussed
below:
Computer Network: A computer network consists of
computers and devices connected to one another.
Information can be transferred from one device to the next.
For example, an office filled with computers can share files
together on each separate device. Computer networks can
range from a local network area to a wide area network. The
difference between the types of networks is the size. These
types of computer networks work at certain speeds, also
known as broadband. The Internet network can connect
computer worldwide.
Internet Network: Access to the network allows users to use
many resources. Over time the Internet network will replace
books. This will enable users to discover information almost
instantly and apply concepts to different situations. The
Internet can be used for recreational, governmental,
educational, and other purposes. Businesses in particular
use the Internet network for research or to service customers
and clients.
Telephone Network: The telephone network connects people
to one another. This network can be used in a variety of
ways. Many businesses use the telephone network to route
calls and/or service their customers. Some businesses use a
telephone network on a greater scale through a private
branch exchange. It is a system where a specific business
focuses on routing and servicing calls for another business.
Majority of the time, the telephone network is used around
the world for recreational purposes.
In 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):
• The control plane carries control information (also known
as signalling).
• The data plane or user plane or bearer plane carries the
network’s users traffic.
• The management plane carries the operations and
administration traffic required for network management.
Example: the TCP/IP data network
The data network is used extensively throughout the world to
connect 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 many data
networks from different organizations all operating under a
single address space.
Terminals attached to TCP/IP networks are addressed using
IP addresses. There are different types of IP address, but
the most common is IP Version 4. Each unique address
consists of 4 integers between 0 and 255, usually separated
by dots when written down, e.g. 82.131.34.56.
TCP/IP are the fundamental protocols that provide the
control and routing of messages across the data network.
There are many different network structures that TCP/IP can
be used across to efficiently route messages, for example:
• wide area networks (WAN)
• metropolitan area networks (MAN)
• local area networks (LAN)
• Internet area networks (IAN)
• campus area networks (CAN)
• virtual private networks (VPN)
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 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.
3 A MAN is a means for sharing resources at high speeds
within the network. It often provide connections to WAN
networks for access to resources outside the scope of
the MAN.
Optical Transport Network (OTN)

Optical Transport Network (OTN) Specs

Optical Transport Network (OTN) is a large complex network

of server hubs at different locations on ground, connected by
Optical fiber cable or optical network carrier, to transport
data across different nodes. The server hubs are also known
as head-ends, nodes or simply, sites. OTNs are the
backbone of Internet Service Providers and are often daisy
chained and cross connected to provide network
redundancy. Such a setup facilitates uninterrupted services
and fail-over capabilities during maintenance windows,
equipment failure or in case of accidents.
The devices used to transport data are known as network
transport equipment. Some of the widely used equipment
are manufactured by
• Alcatel Lucent – AL7510, AL7750
• Nortel Networks Corp. (acquired by Ciena Corp.) – Optera
Metro series – OM4500, OM6500
• Fujitsu Ltd. – FlashWave series FW4500, FW7500,
FW9500
The capacity of a network is mainly dependent on the type of
signaling scheme employed on transmitting and receiving
end. In the earlier days, a single wavelength light beam was
used to transmit data, which limited the bandwidth to the
maximum operating frequency of the transmitting and
receiving end equipment. With the application of wavelength
division multiplexing (WDM), the bandwidth of OTN has risen
up to 100Gbit/s (OTU4 Signal), by emitting light beams of
different wavelengths. Lately, AT&T, Verizon, and Rogers
Communication have been able to employ these 100G
“pipes” in their metro network. Large field areas are mostly
serviced by 40G pipes (OC192/STM-64).
A 40G pipe can carry 40 different channels as a result of
Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) transmission.
Each node in the network is able to access different
channels, but is mostly tuned to a few channels. The data
from a channel can be dropped to the node or new data can
be added to the node using Re-configurable Optic Add Drop
Mux (ROADM) that uses Wavelength Selective Switching
(WSS) to extract and infuse a configured frequency. This
eliminates the need to convert all the channels to electric
signals, extract the required channels, and convert the rest
back to optical into the OTN. Thus ROADM systems are fast,
less expensive and can be configured to access any channel
in the OTN pipe.
The extracted channels at a site are connected to local
devices through muxponder or tranponder cards that can
split or combine 40G channels to 4x 10G channels or 8x
2.5G channels.

Re-configurable Optical Add Drop Multiplexer (ROADM). Click for a larger

view of the image.