IT-405 Telecommunication Systems

An Overview to Course Contents

Instructor: Muhammad usman
Email: [email protected]
Topics today
 Practicalities
 Table of course contents
 Networking paradigms: Determining networking trends
 Network evolvement
 Topology

 divided
 integrated
 mobile
 Telecommunication markets
 Review of course contents in selected topics
 The OSI-model

 Networking approaches: PSTN, ISDN, Mobile, Internet

 Future trends
Practicalities
 Textbooks: Ericsson, Telia: Understanding
Telecommunications, Part II, ISBN 91-44-00214-9
(Studentlitteratur),  James F. Kurose, Keith W. Ross:
Computer Networking (2nd Ed.,Addison Wesley)
 Reference: A.S. Tanenbaum: Computer Networks (4th
Ed., Prentice Hall)
Some topics from course contents
 Introduction
 Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
 Exchange techniques

 Transmission

 Integrate Services Digital Network (ISDN)

 Functions

 Interfaces

 Automatic Transfer Mode (ATM) and Broadband-ISDN

 X.25, Frame relay
 Public land mobile networks
 GSM

 WCDMA

 Signaling networks: SS7

 The Internet: Network topology, TCP/IP Suite, Services
 Telecommunication networks have
much in common

Trunk Network

Node 1 Node 2
Access Access

Node 3
Terminals Terminals
 Trunk and access parts
 Access part terminated by terminals
 Network nodes and links are optimized for certain assumed
traffic patterns
 This model applies for both data (packet) and voice networks
 Due to these network similarities network analysis carriers
common subtopics
Course contents: Networking subtopics
 User services and terminals (as IN services: call last
dialed...)
 Standards (IETF, IEEE, ITU-T ...)
 Routing and switching (unicast - multicast, devices)
 Transmission and links (as fibre, coax-cable.., RSVP)
 Access and transport (terminals, local-loop techniques..)
 Servers service (web,mail,ftp ...)
 Signaling (SS7, X.25, Frame relay ...)
 Network management (as OMAP of SS7...)
 Interworking between networks (gateways, bridges ...)
 Network planning IN: Intelligent Network
IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force
IEEE: the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc
RSVP: Resource ReSerVation Protocol
ITU: International Telecommunications Union
SS7: Signaling System 7
OMAP: Operation and Maintenance Application Part
Paradigm shift
 Network evolvement

Telecommunication
Network

 Most people have observed that a telecommunications network is a system

transmitting the messages (even SMS) … In this course we focus on analyzing
that the networks
can be divide to ...
 Frame relay:
- virtual circuits
Data and voice networks - used to connect two LANs
- compromises in error
correction & flow control
- for high quality links
- rates: 2-50 Mb/s

Frame Flow Control:

- service for a pair of
Divided networks

communicating entities
- reassures non-over-
whelming comms. (not
too many packets)

 Nodes and links with well defined (standardized) interfaces

 Network nodes and links that are optimized for certain,
assumed traffic
 Traditional assumption: Voice and data services in different
networks
 Integrated Services
Digital Network (ISDN)

Voice, data; multimedia

Merged networks

 Modern PSTN exchanges apply ISDN technology (64

kb/s...2 Mb/s) both internally and externally
 ISDN and its broadband version B-ISDN (up to 100Mb/s)
supports data communications also for future PLMNs
 Differentiated services: Transportation system channeled
into constant rate, real-time and higher-latency

ATM: Asynchronous Transfer Mode PLMN: Public Land Mobile Network

UMTS and Differentiated Services

 UMTS supports wide range of applications that posses different

quality of service (QoS) requirements.
 Applications and services can be divided in different groups,
depending on QoS requirements. Four traffic classes can been
identified:
 Conversational class (very delay-sensitive traffic)

 Streaming class

 Interactive class

 Background class (the most delay insensitive)

 Hence TCP (Connection-oriented transport-layer ) is not always

applied - one may use also UDP (Connectionless transport-layer
protocol) - Why?
Network/service adaptivity
 Services manifest themselves via various customer profiles (that may
differ within a short time period), and thus efficient adaptivity should
be supported by network configurations
 Advanced networks have a tendency to carry intelligence in terminals
(and not in exchanges)
 Reduces signaling traffic
 Moves costs to end-users
 IN (Intelligent Network) solutions developed first for PSTN but a typical
important part of most networks as in PLMNs
 Enables service flexibility in exchanges (software radio does the
same in terminals)
 IN services designed in cooperation with terminal intelligence
 Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMN)
 Mobility is required practically for all services in the
Merged mobile IP networks

very near future!

 In this course we will discuss especially the GSM (Global
System for Mobile communications) (9.6 kbit/s++) and
WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, or
UMTS) networks
 UMTS will be launched 2002-2003 yielding mobile data
rates up to 2 Mb/s. However, the GSM network will be
upgraded for higher rates thanks to
 GPRS (General Packet Switched Data),

 HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data) and

 EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution)

2G +
Telecomm market players

End-Users

Content and Service Providers

Service operators/
Telecommunications Networking Solutions

Physical Telecommunication Network

 Telecommunication network content and technology

producers, operators and consumers form an
interoperable hierarchy
Telecomm market players
 End-users (individuals and companies)
 Information service providers (As a telephone catalog
services designed by a company, giving telephone numbers
when you give a name or an address)
 Service brokers sell dedicated service packages (as MySAP)
 Network operators (as Elisa, Telia, or Radiolinja)
 Content providers (as Paramount Pictures)
Telecom services categorized

Category Important application

Communications teleworking, multimedia,
mail
Knowledge distance education,
database retrievals
Entertainment games etc. (getting
increasingly important!)
Information Marketing, yellow pages,
catalogues
Service home shopping and
banking, telemedicine
Remote control/remote Automation applications
supervision
 The ISO-OSI Model
System A System B

7. Application 7. Application

6. Presentation 6. Presentation
5. Session 5. Session
4. Transport 4. Transport
Network
…. Network
3. Network 3. Network
Data Link
…. Data Link
2. Data Link 2. Data Link
1. Physical Physical …. Physical 1. Physical
LAN Network
OSI: Open System Interconnections
ISO: International Organization for Standardization
 The OSI-functions

7. Application User access to OSI environment applications

Gateway Layers
Provides independence of applications from
6. Presentation differences in data presentations
Establishing, managing and termination connections
5. Session (sessions) between cooperating applications
Provides reliable, transparent data transfer for
4. Transport lower level data segments or blocks
Gives routing service for transport layer.
3. Network

LAN Layers
Layer of routers.
Sends data blocks with synchronization, error and flow
2. Data Link control for end-to-end connections*. Layer of bridges.
Transforms electrical signal into bits. In local networks
1. Physical standardized by 802.x standard. Layer or repeaters

*For instance in a classroom of workstations

Practical networks usually melt OSI
 Each OSI-layer has its standardized services

7. Application NCP, FTP, Telnet, SMTP, SNMP, LAT, AFP, SMB...

6. Presentation SNA Presentation services

5. Session NetBIOS, NetBEUI, DNS, ...

4. Transport SPX, PEP, TCP, UDP, NSP...

3. Network IPX, RIP, SAP, IDP, IP, ARP, RARP, ICMP, X.25, RIP...

2. Data Link IEEE 802.X, ANSI X3T9.5, SMT,...

V.24, V.35, V.90, 10Base5, 10Base2, 10BaseT, FDDI,

1. Physical SDH, G.703...
 Practical network stratums

 OSI is seldom realized as

itself but several layers are
melted together into stratums
 In this example X.25 packet
network operates on ATM
based SDH access stratums.
 ATM forms an efficient
info pipe where no
address checking or
error correction is done
but it is left for
lower layers
The PSTN hierarchy
 Since ‘96 in Finland all the exchanges of PSTN have been digital
 However, there exists still analog phones
 Natural connection to the modern PSTN is the ISDN-interface

Country-level

County-level

City-level
Example: PSTN Network operator in two towns

Note that by dial-up

networking part
of local exchange capacity
is allocated for another
X.25 operator
A PCM-link

OSS: Operations Support

System
NMC: Network Maintenance
ATM
Center
RLL: Radio in the Local Loop
MUX: multiplexer
PBX: Private Branch Exchange
Telecommunications service requirements
from the physical level: QoS
 Networking requirements: What services require from the
network in respect of
 Bandwidth,

 Burstiness,

 Symmetry (uplink /downlink rates),

 Bit errors and blocking

 Delay

 Security

 These define QOS (Quality of Service)

 service Different services require different rates

Telephony
Voice

Broadcasting
Video conf.
TV/HDTV
Video

Video
Inter-LAN/PBX communications
Data

Fax
CAD Graphics
10k 1M 100M bitrate
 Burstiness: video, voice, data
 Different services (telecomm. traffic) require different
networking abilities
 Most real-life sources produce bursty traffic
 Modern networks can adapt into bursty service by allocation
capacity very rapidly for other users

Bursty traffic:
Human speech


Video and


multimedia sources
Data bursts in a
packet network

Time/seconds
Speech and data communications

Speech Data

Delays Limited to ~200 ms Depends on Data

Errors High tolerance Very limited tolerance

Continuous: Circuit Bursty: Packet

Stream
switching switching

 Teletraffic can be forced to fixed rate or bandwidth as

speech in PSTN or ATM traffic
Bit errors and blocking

 Real-time services for video and audio

 Can not tolerate delays clearly observable by human (in

order 200 ms or larger)

 Can tolerate relatively large error rates

 Blocking probability depends on number of customers in

a service area
 Fixed rate data services require much non-reusable
capacity:
 Fixed delay

 demanding error rate limit

 High-latency data:
 Large flexibility in delay

 demanding error rate limit

Symmetry
 Categories:
 Symmetrical channel as in fixed line telephony
 Asymmetrical channel
 Most technical Internet realizations (As xDSL-techniques or data over DVB,
ADSL: 64 kb/s DL, 256 kb/s and up UL) are based on idea that downlink
traffic is much larger that uplink traffic (in Welho® (by HTV) connections 525
kb/s DL, 120 kb/s UL)
 Point-to-multipoint channel
 TV and Fax are point-to-multipoint distributive services
 Note, however that some new (peer-to-peer) services in Internet (where
your PC works as a server, using Gnutella network) might require
symmetrical traffic channel
 Also Internet is used for point-to-multipoint (multicast) services as in
Webcasting (as in Web-broadcasting or in the PointCast news service.)
 Therefore developing Internet services set stringent requirements for
network infrastructure & planning!
Security and secrecy*
 Services require usually security & serrecy, e. g. reliable,
shielded transfer. Especially for
 rescue services

 police
* •• Message goes to the right receiver
Others can not do eavesdropping
 defense force

 some special applications as telesurgery

 Networks can provide this by using:

 fixed lines (PSTN, frame relay)

 flexible routing (SS7)

 scrambling or encryption (PLMNs)

 coding or ciphering (in all modern telecom links &

nets)
 Often reassured in several network levels
Public switched telephone network (PSTN)
 The oldest (1876) bearer network (other: ISDN, ATM,
frame relay, The Internet)
 After 1960 has got many renovations: data, fax, processor
exchanges, PCM, satellite communications, network
intelligence
 Primary characteristics
 Analog access 300-3400 Hz

 Circuit switched connection

 Switched bandwidth 64 kbit/s (Digital exchanges)

 Immobility (or limited mobility as in DECT=PABX RF-

interface)
 Integrated nowadays especially with N-ISDN
The PSTN (cont.)
 The PSTN is optimized for fixed speech service,
statistically distributed, analog subscribers (by using the
circuit switching technology that was made available
beginning of this century).
 Support for data traffic "artificially added" by
 modems

 ISDN (integrated into exchanges)

 xDSL (x digital subscriber line)

 However, PSTN is
 Easily congested when subscriber services

(or behavior) changes unexpectedly (no graceful

degradation as in CDMA-PLMN): resource wasting
The PSTN (cont.)
 Vulnerable: network paralyzed easily in exchange
malfunctions (still parallel system(s) provided)
 Network intelligence in exchanges and dummy

terminals
 Poor adaptivity

 However, an important backbone for other networks!

 The PSTN will be there for a long time and it seems that it
can be used for modern day networking also on quite high
data rates by using various extension techniques
 Modern day networks are constructed thus that the
required services can be supported: Thus

Services shape the modern networks!

Integrated Services Data Network (ISDN)
 In N-ISDN (narrow band 2x64 kb/s +16 kb/s, extendable
up to 30x64=1.92 Mb/s), B-ISDN (rates exceeding 100
Mb/s) and ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) networks
all services are handled integrated, circuit switched way.
 Mobility enabled by DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless
Telecommunications )
 Nowadays there exists many competitive techniques for
ISDN as
 Cable modems,

 ISM -band (Industry, Science, Medicine) LANs (as

HiperLAN I & II)

 Digital satellite networking by DVB (SAS Astra®)

 WCDMA

 PSTN with 56 kbit/s (V.90) technology

Signaling networks

STP: Signal Transfer Point

BSC: Base Station Controller

 Telecom nets require more and more processor capacity:

 More subscribers

 Setting up connection is getting increasingly complex

 Number of supplementary services increasing

 Thus the need to transmit signaling information (=interactive

network telematic communication) is increasing
The Internet(working)

 The Internet carries “Everything over any physical medium” but still the
'best effort' meaning no service quality guaranteed
 Internet topics:
 TCP/IP: Frames and sessions
 Routing: Backbone connected subnets
 Network planning: Core - Regional nets - Access nets - Users
 Signaling: TCP client – server communications
 Services: http, ftp, email, irc, news, telnet ….
 Internetworking (!) for instance data over PSTN: PPP, SLIP
 TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol
Internet Protocol: a distributed triumph
 The first Internet was ARPANET in 1969’s with four nodes
 Present TCP/IP version 4 has problems especially in
 lacking of address capacity

 security

 In 1997 ipV6 was initiated - However not too much used yet
due to compatibility problems
 TCP/IP does not have any general advance (except that it is so
widespread) when compared to IPX, AppleTalk, DECnet etc.
 Essential high level network functions
TCP/IP Network

 routing management

 name servers
architecture

 network management protocols

 Network consists of
 hardware as workstations, networks, routers, bridges

 software as applications and protocols

 TCP/IP Network transmission
IP-network

R TCP, UDP
TCP, UDP R ICMP
ICMP R Workstation 2.
Workstation 1.

Repeater Repeater
R: Routers

 TPC/IP tasks: end-to-end transmission, error correction,

maintain packet order
 Internet is based on datagrams that address subnets via
routers
 A simple routing could be accomplished by a lookup table
between target IP and subnet IP
UDP: User Datagram Protocol, downgraded TCP/IP for good quality connections
ICMP: Internet Control Message Protocol, testing usage
The playground of telecommunications
markets

 The expanding service markets and the competing bearer

networks form an interesting playground!
Future trends
 PSTN used to transfer more and more data traffic
 user PSTN rates increase up to several Mb/s
 Also data networks (as Frame Relay) will be used for voice
and there is a strong tendency to put everything over IP
 The fax service in PSTN will diminish and the respective
messages are transmitted by e-mail (that is transferred via
a packet networks (usually by TCP/IP))
 Inter(net)working between networks increases
 Traditional voice service in PSTN transforms using packets
and moves to Internet
 PLMNs and especially (RF)-LANs develop very fast
Web resources
 xDSL: www.adsl.com
 3:rd generation PLMN: www.w3.org, www.3gpp.org
 Telehallintokeskus: www.thk.fi
 IEEE standards: www.ieee.org
 Finnish standards: www.thk.fi/tele/suomi/standard.htm
 Network & terminal realization: www.nokia.com
 Have a look on link list at Kurose-Ross’s homepage: open
resources/references (!)
 … and so many more!

Important auxiliary use for abundant abbreviations

is their applicability for Internet search!