Chapter 5

Introduction to
Telecommunications
 Applications of Telecommunications
OBrien 121

Business
Telecommunications Centralized
Distributed
Client/server
Telecommunications Interorganizational
Architectures Global

Electronic commu- Electronic meeting Business process

nications system systems systems

Electronic mail Desktop Video Online transaction

Voice mail conferencing processing
Bulletin Board systems Decision room Inquiry/Response
Videotex conferencing EDI / XML
Fascimile Computer Electronic Funds Transfer
Public Information Service conferencing Activity monitoring
Teleconferencing Process control
Telecommuting
 Trends OBrien 122 - 124

Industry trends
Towards a greater number of competitive vendors, carriers, alliances
and telecommunications network services.

Technology trends
Towards open and interconnected local and global digital networks for voice,
data and video, using high-speed fiber-optics and satellites.

Application Trends

Towards a pervasive use of the internet and enterprise and interorganizational

intranets, to support collaborative computing, online business operations and
strategic advantage in local and global markets.
 Technological Developments

General trend: Connect everybody to everybody else.

Internet-network technologies

thousands new hardware- and software products

web-browsers, HTML- editors, firewalls
Open systems: based on standards
connectivity of systems: middleware
OSI, TCP/IP
Digital technologies
higher transmission speed
larger information streams
more efficient transmission method
less errors

text: OBrien : p. 168

 Internet Revolution
Explosive growth
Terminology
WWW: inquiry sources of information via
graphical browser software
E-mail: electronic mail
Usenet: place messages on bulletin board
IRC: real time dialogs
FTP: file transfer
Telnet: login on other systems
Other: telephone, video conferencing, ...

text: OBrien : p. 172

 Telecommunication model OBrien 125

Terminals
terminal, office equipment , telephones , ...
Telecommunications processors
modems, multiplexers, front-end processors, ...
Telecommunications channels and media
copper wires, coaxial cables, fiber optic cables, satellites, ...
Computers
host computers, front-end computers, network servers, ...
Telecommunications control software
telecommunication monitors, network operating systems, ...

Middleware
 Interactive usage
Interactive usage : - increases considerably the productivity
- requires communication networks

Required transmission capacity depends on the application

and on the user interface :
- administrative input <1000 char/sec
- CAD/CAM millions char/sec
Physical location often crucial factor to decide on the
type of connection between the computer and the
workstation

Standardization is an absolute must in this respect

 Telecommunication Components
OBrien 126

5 components

Telecom
Channels and Media
Telecommunications
software
Telecom Telecom
processors processors
End-user
workstation Computers
 LAN OBrien 127 - 128
PC-workstation PC-workstation PC-workstation
Databases and
Software packages

Shared hard disk

Network
Server

Shared
printer
PC-workstation PC-workstation PC-workstation

Port to
other networks
 WAN - Internetwork

LANs Mainframe,
hosts

network
in US
network
in Europe

LANs

Internet
Tymnet

network
in Australia
Cisco corporation network
 Client/server network
Company A
Internet
Router
Firewall
Intranet

Firewall

Router

Company B
Intranet

text: OBrien p 178 Mainframe host system

 Client - Server

Clients

DB. Print CAD comm.

server server server server

Clients

DB. O.A. comm.

server server server
 The Internetwork-enterprise

The Internet

Intranets
Extranets
Enterprise

Intranets Intranets

Client Supplier

Intranets
Electronic Commerce
Other Organizations
text: OBrien p 180
 Media and Channels
Signals
analog
Medium Transmission speed
Metal wire .0012Mbps - 10 Mbps
digital
Microwave .256 Mbps - 100Mbps
Cables Fiber optics .5Mbps - 1,000Mbps
Twisted-pair interference
Coaxial cable 20x more expensive
5.500 simultaneous phone calls
Fiber-optic
1 fiber 30.000 phone calls
Wireless
microwave
satellites
Radio, Infrared, Cellular Radio, Mobile computing
GPS global positioning system

text: OBrien p183 - 186

 Communication hardware
Modems 9.600 14.400 28.800 bps
Transmission mode
Simplex 1 circuit , 1 direction
Half-duplex 1 circuit, 2 directions, difficult co-ordination
Full duplex 2 circuits, 2 directions
Transmission accurateness
parity bits forward and backward error correction
Processors
multiplexers frequency, time or statistic time distribution
front-end processors to handle routine communication tasks
with peripheral equipment

text: OBrien p 187 - 189

 Network Topology

Star
all communications go via the central system
Bus
can easily be extended at the ends
Ring
more secure
 Star network OBrien 147 - 148

With direct
connections

Point-to-point lines

- Efficient , also for high speeds

- With a large number of workstations cabling might be a problem
 Star network (multiplexed)
Access via
multiplexed
lines
eventually rented

- local speed up to 2000 char/sec , 1M char/sec very expensive

- internationally 1000 char/sec commonly available
 Bus network

Shared usage of a
broadband network

Multidrop lines

- more complex hardware

- simpler cabling system
OBrien 191
 Ring Networks OBrien 147

Ring Network

- more equal basis

 Public data networks

PAD =
Packet Assembler
and Disassembler Data Network

PAD

E.g..: DCS 1000 - 6000 char/sec , cost / volume data ( X25 )

Due to high connection cost ($ 30.000 year) usage of PAD
 ISDN

ISDN ISDN
Integrated services
Digital network

- universal network for telephone and data

- > 6000 char/sec
 Open systems

Definition: An open system is a system where the design has not

been made by a supplier but by an accredited
standardization organization (eg:ISO , IEEE , ANSI ,
CODASYL , ... )
This provides the user a better independence from a
specific hardware or software supplier and therefore a
better guarantee for his investments.
It allows the user to make always the most appropriate
and optimal choice for each of the sub-systems .
Open systems are not yet sufficiently available on the
market.
The best examples are UNIX and the OSI network
model
 The OSI model
Defined by ISO ( International Standard Organization ).
OSI ( Open System Interconnect ) describes a framework to
subdivide connection problems in networks into almost
independent sub-problems .

president x diplomatic president y

e.g.:
rules
common
interpreter x interpreter y
language

common
cryptography cryptography
key

common
operator operator
channel

physical link
 The TCP/IP and the 7 layer OSI
model
TCP/IP OSI

Communication services
Application layer for end users
Application- or Correct formatting
Presentation layer
process layer and coding
Support for session
Session layer
initiation
Host-to-host Data transfers between
transport layer Transport layer nodes
Internet-protocol routing of
IP Network layer connections
Support for error-free
network-interface data link data transfer
physical access to
Physical layer Physical layer
communication media

OBrien 193
 OSI 7-Layer Model OBrien 150

7. Application (user application program)

6. Presentation (user interface / screen display )

5. Session ( exchange between two nodes on the network )

4. Transport ( protocol for encoding messages )

3. Network ( mechanism for separating multiple messages )

2. Link ( data encoding schemes )

1. Physical ( wires, connectors , voltage )