Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is the most costly component of a communications budget?
Transmission Services
Transmission services are a significant expense in communications, highlighting the need for efficiency.
What is a Central Office (CO)?
A place where telephone companies terminate customer lines and locate switching equipment to interconnect those lines with other networks
Central offices play a crucial role in telecommunications infrastructure.
Define Customer Premises Equipment (CPE).
Telecommunications equipment that is located on the customer’s premises
CPE includes devices like routers and modems used by end-users.
What does an Internet Service Provider (ISP) do?
Provides other companies or individuals with access to, or presence on, the Internet
ISPs are essential for connecting users to the Internet.
What is a Network Access Point (NAP)?
One of several major Internet interconnection points that serve to tie all the ISPs together
NAPs facilitate the exchange of traffic between different ISPs.
What is the role of a Network Service Provider (NSP)?
Provides backbone services to an Internet service provider (ISP)
NSPs are crucial for the infrastructure that supports ISPs.
What does Point of Presence (POP) refer to?
A site that has a collection of telecommunications equipment, usually refers to ISP or telephone company sites
POPs are critical for connecting users to network services.
What is convergence in telecommunications?
The merger of previously distinct telephony and information technologies and markets
Convergence integrates voice and data networks, enhancing functionality.
List the layers involved in the convergence process.
- Moving voice into a data infrastructure
- Integrating all the voice and data networks inside a user organization into a single data network infrastructure
- Extending that into the wireless arena
These layers illustrate the comprehensive approach to modern telecommunications.
What are Wide Area Networks (WANs)?
Networks that span a large geographical area
WANs often require crossing public right-of-ways and consist of interconnected switching nodes.
What are the alternative technologies used in Wide Area Networking?
- Circuit switching
- Packet switching
- Frame relay
- Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
These technologies are essential for data transmission over wide areas.
What is the impact of digital electronics on networking?
The rapid conversion of consumer electronics to digital technology is increasing image and video traffic on networks
Digital technology enhances the capacity and capabilities of data communications.
What are the two mediums currently driving the evolution of data communications transmission?
- Fiber optic transmissions
- Wireless transmissions
Both mediums are critical for modern data communication infrastructures.
What is a key concern for business managers regarding communications facilities?
Providing required capacity, with acceptable reliability, at minimum cost
This concern drives decisions in technology and infrastructure investment.
What is Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)?
Referred to as cell relay, it uses fixed-length packets called cells and allows multiple channels with data rates dynamically set on demand
ATM is useful for high-speed data transmission.
What is Packet Switching?
Data are sent out in a sequence of small chunks called packets that are passed from node to node along a path
Packet switching is essential for efficient data communication between computers.
True or False: Circuit Switching uses a dedicated communications path.
True
Circuit switching is commonly used in traditional telephone networks.
What is the fundamental problem of communication according to Claude Shannon?
Reproducing at one point either exactly or approximately a message selected at another point
Shannon’s theory provides the basis for understanding communication systems.
What will the estimated number of fixed and mobile networked devices be by 2016?
Over 20 billion
This projection highlights the explosive growth of networked devices and their impact on traffic volume.
