Unit II

TCP/IP Reference Model, Telephone Networks, Leased Lines, PSTN, ISDN, Broadband
Communications, ISPs.

1. TCP/IP Reference Model:

An Internetwork (also called Internet) is a vast collection of interconnected and diverse
networks. These networks contain different types of computers; different data formats different
addressing mechanisms etc.
The reason that data communication is possible between them is that they use a common
protocol for communication – TCP/IP Protocol suite.

History:
The TCP/IP model was built on the ARPANET model, which was developed by Advanced
Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. Dept. of Defense (DOD) in the late 1960’s.
ARPANET was very successful but was unable to connect diverse networks. This led to the
development of a new architecture for internetworking. This model was built before the OSI
model.

Goals:
i. Connect multiple networks in a seamless way.
ii. The network should be able to survive the loss of subnet hardware.
iii Flexible architecture is need since the applications on different networks were diverse.

The TCP/IP model is a 4 layered model as shown below.

1. Host - to – Network Layer:

The TCP/IP model does not define any protocols for low-level communication. This layer
corresponds to the Physical and Data Link Layer of the OSI model. It supports any low level
communication protocol.
2. Network (Internet) Layer:
This layer is also known as Internet layer. The main job of this layer is to transport data packets
(datagram) from the source machine to the destination. This datagram travel independently and

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hence may arrive in different order than they are sent. In this layer two different protocols were
used and these are Internet Protocol (IP) and Network layer Protocols.
i) Internet Protocol (IP): The network layer in the TCP/IP model is IP (Internet Protocol) which
takes care of addressing and routing the datagrams through the internetwork. Hence, its
functionality is similar to the OSI network layer. It is an unreliable, connectionless protocol and
provides best-effort delivery. This means that the protocol does not take any responsibility for
error free delivery.
ii.) Network layer Protocols: IP (Internet Protocol), ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol)
ARP< (Address Resolution Protocol), DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)

3. Transport Layer (Host-to-Host):

This layer is designed to allow communication between peer entities on the source and
destination hosts, just as in the OSI transport layer. Two end-to-end protocols are defined in this
layer.
i.) TCP (Transmission Control Protocol): This is a reliable connection-oriented protocol. It
ensures end-to-end, error-free delivery. It also handles reassembling of packets at the receiver
and flow control to ensure that a fast sender does not flood a slow receiver. It breaks data into
small units called segments which are encapsulated within IP packets and transmitted. The
receiving TCP reassembles these into a single stream and gives them to the application layer.
ii) UDP (User Datagram Protocol): This is an unreliable connectionless protocol. It is mainly
used in client-server, request-reply applications where prompt delivery is more important than
accurate delivery. Because it is connection-less, UDP requires less overhead as compared to
TCP.

4. Application Layer:
This model does not have a session or presentation layer. The application layer contains all
higher-level protocols for commonly required user service like e-mail (SMTM), File Transfer
(FTP), Remote Terminal Access (TELNET), Domain Name System (DNS) for mapping host
names to network address, access to the World Wide Web (HTTP), etc.

2. Telephone Network:
Telephone networks use circuit switching, and gets beginning in late 1800s. The Telephone
Network is actually known as plain old telephone system (POTS). It was particularly designed
for analog communication, i.e. it was used to transmit voice. In 1980s the advancement in
computer networks began to carry data along with voice. The network which we see today is
capable to carry digital as well as analog signals.
Components:
The telephone network, as shown in following Figure, is made of three major components:
1. Local loops
2. Trunks, and
3. Switching offices.

The telephone network has several levels of switching offices such as end offices, tandem offices,
and regional offices.

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Local Loops
One component of the telephone network is the local loop, a twisted-pair cable that connects the
subscriber telephone to the nearest end office or local central office. The local loop, when used for
voice, has a bandwidth of 4000 Hz (4 kHz). It is interesting to examine the telephone number
associated with each local loop. The first three digits of a local telephone number define the office,
and the next four digits define the local loop number.

Trunks
Trunks are transmission media that handle the communication between offices. A trunk normally
handles hundreds or thousands of connections through multiplexing. Transmission is usually through
optical fibers or satellite links.

Switching Offices
To avoid having a permanent physical link between any two subscribers, the telephone company has
switches located in a switching office. A switch connects several local loops or trunks and allows a
connection between different subscribers.

LATA (local access and transport area) is a term in the U.S. for a geographic area covered by
one or more local telephone companies, which are legally referred to as local exchange carriers
(LECs). A connection between two local exchanges within the LATA is referred to as intra
LATA. A connection between a carrier in one LATA to a carrier in another LATA is referred to
as inter LATA. InterLATA is long-distance service. The current rules for permitting a company
to provide intra LATA or inter LATA service (or both) are based on the Telecommunications
Act of 1996

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Communication inside a LATA is handled by end switches and tandem switches. A call that can
be completed by using only end offices is considered toll-free. A call that has to go through a
tandem office (intra-LATA toll office) is charged.

Signaling
The telephone network, at its beginning, used a circuit-switched network with dedicated links
(multiplexing had not yet been invented) to transfer voice communication. As we saw in Chapter
8, a circuit-switched network needs the setup and teardown phases to establish and terminate
paths between the two communicating parties. In the beginning, this task was performed by
human operators. The operator room was a center to which all subscribers were connected. A
subscriber who wished to talk to another subscriber picked up the receiver (off-hook) and rang
the operator. The operator, after listening to the caller and getting the identifier of the called
party, connected the two by using a wire with two plugs inserted into the corresponding two
jacks. A dedicated circuit was created in this way. One of the parties, after the conversation
ended, informed the operator to disconnect the circuit. This type of signaling is called in-band
signaling because the same circuit can be used for both signaling and voice communication.
Later, the signaling system became automatic. Rotary telephones were invented that sent a
digital signal defining each digit in a multidigit telephone number. The switches in the telephone
companies used the digital signals to create a connection between the caller and the called
parties. Both in-band and out-of-band signaling were used. In in-band signaling, the 4-kHz voice
channel was also used to provide signaling. In out-of-band signaling, a portion of the voice
channel bandwidth was used for signaling; the voice bandwidth and the signaling bandwidth
were separate.

As telephone networks evolved into a complex network, the functionality of the signalingsystem
increased. The signaling system was required to perform other tasks such as
1. Providing dial tone, ring tone, and busy tone
2. Transferring telephone numbers between offices
3. Maintaining and monitoring the call
4. Keeping billing information
5. Maintaining and monitoring the status of the telephone network equipment
6. Providing other functions such as caller ID, voice mail, and so on

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These complex tasks resulted in the provision of a separate network for signaling. This means
that a telephone network today can be thought of as two networks: a signaling network and a
data transfer network. digits and routes the calls. Transaction capabilities application port TCAP)
provides remote calls that let an application program on a computer invoke a procedure on
another computer. ISDN user port (ISUP) can replace TUP to provide services similar to those of
an ISDN network.

3. Leased Line:
A leased line is a symmetric telecommunications line connecting two locations. It is
sometimes known as a 'Private Circuit' or 'Data Line' in the UK. Unlike traditional PSTN
lines it does not have a telephone number, each side of the line being permanently
connected to the other. Leased lines can be used for telephone, data or Internet services.
A leased line connects two locations for private voice and/ or data telecommunication
service. Not a dedicated cable, a leased line is actually a reserved circuit between two
points. Leased lines can span short or long distances. They maintain a single open circuit
at all times, as opposed to traditional telephone services that reuse the same lines for
many different conversations through a process called "switching." Leased lines most
commonly are rented by businesses to connect branch offices, because these lines
guarantee bandwidth for network traffic. So-called T1 leased lines are common and offer
the same data rate as symmetric DSL (1.544 Mbps). Individuals can theoretically also
rent leased lines for high-speed Internet access, but their high cost deters most. Fractional
T1 lines, starting at 128 Kbps, reduce this cost somewhat and can be found in some
apartment buildings and hotels. To transmit data between computer and electronic
information devices, BSNL provides data communication services to its subscribers. It
offers a choice of high, medium and low speed leased data circuits as well as dial-up
lines. Bandwidth is available on demand in most of the cities. Managed leased Line
Network (MLLN) offers flexibility of providing circuits with speeds of n x 64 Kbps up to
2 Mbps. Useful for internet leased lines and international principle Leased Lines( IPLCs).
For dedicated point to point speech, private wire, tele-printer and data circuits are given
on lease basis. Leased circuits are provided to subscribers for internal communication
provided to subscribers for internal communication between their offices/ factories at
various sites within a city/ town or different cities/ town on point to point basis, or on a
network basis interconnecting the various sites.

4. PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network:

PSTN is the fixed voice network. It consists of the transmission, switching, signaling and
intelligent networks.

The transmission network enables carrying all kinds of traffic (voice, video, and data). It
consists of nodes called multiplexers and links among multiplexers. The goal of the multiplexer
is to multiplex/demultiplex traffic on to/from the link. There exist three multiplexing

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technologies: PDH (Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy), SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) and D-
WDM.( Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) The link technology is generally optic fiber but
may also be coax, radio, etc. A transmission network generally consists of hundreds of
multiplexers and tens of thousands of kilometers of optic fiber.
Switching network enables switching the traffic from the sender to the appropriate destination.
A switching network consists of switches. All switches rely on the transmission network which
provides digital trunks. A switch receives traffic from the transmission network at input ports,
applies the switching function which forwards the traffic to output port. Then, the switch relies
on the transmission network to send the traffic to an adjacent switch. The voice network is using
the circuit switching technology which provides voice services.
A switching network operates in a connection oriented mode. That means that prior to enabling
users exchanging their traffic; there is a need of reserving resources on the path between the
sender/caller and the receiver/callee. To reserve resources, all switches on the path exchange
signaling information. Signaling information is data. In the case of circuit switching, signaling
data is carried over a separate network, i.e., a signaling network called Signaling System.

The intelligent network is used in the voice network for the provisioning of services such as
free phone, premium rate, virtual private network, account card calling, etc. It consists of a set of
application servers containing service logic and service data.

The access network is the network which enables attaching the user equipment to the
switching/transmission network. The subscriber has a subscriber line, which may be an analog
line, an ISDN line, a leased line, an ADSL line, etc., to connect to the PSTN. EMSs (Element
Management Systems) are sold with the equipment by the telecom vendor. EMSs enable
operators to manage their equipment. The OSS (Operation Support System) is the management
of the network and the services. The BSS (Business Support System) is the interface to and the
management of the customer

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5. ISDN:

The key behind ISDN is a “digital pipe”, a conceptual pipe between the customer and the carrier
through which bits flow. The bits may originate from a digital telephone, digital terminal, a
digital fax machine or some other device. The bits can flow through the pipe in both the
directions

The digital bit pipe can support multiple independent channels by time division multiplexing.
Two principle standards have been developed.

i) A low bandwidth standard for home use.

ii) Higher bandwidth for business that contains multiple channels.

The carrier places Network Terminating devices (NT1) on the customer’s premises and then
connects it to the ISDN exchange using a twisted pair. The NT1 box has a connector into which
a bus cable can be inserted. Up to 8 ISDN telephones, terminals, alarms and other devices can be
connected to the cable in the same way as devices are connected to a LAN.

Each device on the bus must have a unique address by which it can be identified. The NT1 also
contains logic for contention resolution, i.e., It can handle the situation when multiple devices
access the bus at the same time. For large business applications, the above scheme is inadequate.
In such a case, another device NT2 also called PBX (Private Branch Exchange) is connected to
NT1. This provides interface between the ISDN terminal and the ISDN exchange.

Customer’s Office Carrier’s Office

Digital
Bit Pipe

T U
ISDN
NT1
Exchange
ISDN ISDN ISDN
teleph termin alarm
one al

Customer’s equipment Carrier’s equipment

ISDN for home use

The five kinds of devices on the customer’s premises are:

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 1. NT1: Network boundary
2. NT2: Customer PBX
3. TE1: ISDN Terminal
4. TE2: Non ISDN Terminal
5. TA: Terminal Adapter

6. Broadband Communication:

Broadband communication is a way of transmitting multiple channels of data over a single

medium. The medium may be Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), coaxial cable, twisted pair cable or
wireless broadband.

Broadband technology offers high-speed internet to users. The minimum speed for broad band is
25 megabytes per second.

There are two types of broadband as DSL and cable modem.

Cable Modem:

DSL is transmitted over copper telephone lines. It provides a dedicated internet connection that
users don’t have to share. A cable modem connection provides internet through the cable
television line. Users do have to share their cable broadband with other subscribers, so speed
may vary depending on how many users are logged on.

How does broadband Works?

A modem or router that allows access to a broadband network is essential for broadband. These
devices receive signals from the broadband provider, enabling what is called “last mile access”.
This means that they allow users to connect to the data that is already being streamed, letting
information taking the last step necessary to appear on their computer or television.

7. ISP:

ISP is full form of Internet Service Provider. An Internet Service Provider is an organization that
provides services for accessing and using the Internet. Internet service providers may be
organized in various forms, such as commercial, community – owned.

An ISP means Internet Service Provider and is an organization that provides services for
accessing and using the internet. The most common way to connect to an ISP is by using a phone
line or broadband connection.