NEXT GENERATION NETWORKS

ETEC-428
UNIT - 1
INTRODUCTION TO NEXT GENERATION NETWORKS

The next-generation network (NGN) is a body of key architectural changes in

telecommunication core and access networks. The general idea behind the NGN is that one
network transports all information and services (voice, data and all sorts of media such as
video) by encapsulating these into IP packets. NGNs are commonly built around the Internet
Protocol, and therefore the term all IP is also sometimes used to describe the transformation
of formerly telephone-centric networks towards NGN.

A next generation network (NGN) is a packet based network which can provide services
including telecommunications services and is able to make use of multiple broadband, quality
of service-enabled transport technologies and in which service-related functions are
independent from underlying transport-related technologies. It offers unrestricted access by
users to different service providers. It supports generalized mobility which will allow
consistent and ubiquitous provision of services to users.

Characteristics:

 Unified global networking platform.

 Packet-based network.
 Provides telecommunication services to users.
 Qos-enabled transport technologies such as reliability.
 Services are independent of transport technologies.
 Unfettered access for users to networks and services.
 Generalized provision of services to users.

COMMUNICATING IN THE NEW ERA

New Era of Networking

Several technical events occurred to usher in the new era of communications networking,
including

 The technological refinement of the electromagnetic spectrum

 The rising power of computing
 The ascendancy of IP
 The dominance of data
 The service pull of the Internet
The technological refinement of the electromagnetic spectrum:

The electromagnetic spectrum is indeed, medium neutral. It can use copper-laden power,
phone and coaxial cable plant (electrons), air-bridged radio frequencies (microwaves), and
glass-based fiber (photons). Both wavelengths and frequencies are key defining properties of
the electromagnetic spectrum, from utility line pulses, to light beams, to cosmic rays. The
spectrum is wide open for use and reuse, and perhaps we're not yet even aware of the extent
of its boundaries. Fiber optics has become the most powerful user of the electromagnetic
spectrum, particularly the infrared portion of the field. By integrating, overlapping, and
perhaps multiplying spectra across all available mediums, usable communications bandwidth
(and, therefore, information bearing capability) appears to be infinitesimal as we launch into
a new century.

The rising power of computing

The computer age was built on the power of two. The one and the zero, represented and
replicated in a transistor's ability to switch itself on or off as binary equivalents of yes and no,
has for the last 50 plus years been increasingly numerated on both sides of the decimal point.
The mathematical power of two is awesome. It has created thousands of protocols, hundreds
of thousands of usable software programs, millions of computers, terabytes of digitally
storable information, and quad zillions of accurate calculations all resulting in a multibillion
dollar industry. The "soft" power behind the hardware is the ability to arrange the ones and
zeros in variable sequences of code, in slices of time, in matrices of instructions that create
software programs, protocols, packets, and peta-bytes of storage.

The ascendancy of IP

Networking became more efficient as intelligence migrated to the adoption of the Internet
Protocol often layered with Transmission Control Protocol to form TCP/IP. IP was the
defining catalyst that repositioned intelligence at the epicenter of transmitters and receivers
and became the global communications language of the new networking era.

The dominance of data

The internet search was simplified with the world- wide web uniform resource locator (URL).
Also, upon that, point-and-click navigation was added through the linkage of Hypertext
Markup Language (HTML) and a PC software-based Internet browser. Web browsing was
layered with useful information content and styling using CSS. All this concoction with high
bandwidth created a data-rich data source. The newfound ease of use and content richness
powered Internet usage logarithmically proves that internet data is now dominant over voice.

The service pull of the Internet

Pull marketing refers to creating, adding and utilizing various forms of content, videos etc
which are stored, served and displayed such that the users themselves reach out and grab the
information and respond as well. The Internet is a post office, a library, a bank, a brokerage, a
pharmacy and much more. Businesses use the Internet as a living brochure, sales and pricing
catalog, an advertiser, an order taker, a distributor, sales and customer service channel, and a
global street address. These embedded services save time and, therefore, pull users into
digital commerce and entertainment. The Internet is one definitive example of service pull.

TECHNOLOGIES INFLUENCING CHANGE

Communications technology is everywhere and anywhere today. The demand for increasing
productivity, saving time and labor, enhancing recreation, extending lifespan, and profiting
from a technological winner is the core of every innovator. Often, new technology is
successful on its own merit when nothing like it has existed before. Sometimes a new
technology is a reassembly or unique packaging of existing technologies much like a
technical version of Scrabble. When a technology can be enhanced, yielding a 10x
improvement in price, performance, or time value over the technical roots from which it
sprang, it has an excellent chance of widespread adoption.

Many times, a new technology is the missing link in a chain, which suddenly bonds with
other technologies or services to form a new, breakthrough solution.

Most telecommunications service providers are still technology-based, and clear,

technological winners will remain at the foundation of new offerings. IP, optical, and wireless
technologies contain inherent service values that help provider‟s service-orient their
offerings, deriving even better service from provider technology.

IP EVERYWHERE

Today, the Internet Protocol, or its more colloquial reference of IP, is everywhere. The
Internet Protocol suite, as it is commonly referred to in official standards documents became
the protocol engine of choice for networks worldwide because of IP's ability to be
implemented on disparate computer systems. By allowing these diverse computers and their
networks to interoperate with each other, information sharing was nimble and quick using the
simple, yet powerful capabilities of IP. Many benefits led to IP becoming the de facto
standard of networks and computer communications around the world. IP is inherently
connectionless and distributed, reducing restrictions on network design, adding reliability
through seamless flow across multiple communication pathways, and providing low
overhead.

IP is a scalable and extensible protocol suite, bringing flexibility and investment protection,
which are key requirements of designers and decision makers. For example, you can extend
the protocol's default, connectionless, best-effort orientation by combining IP with a Layer 4
protocol such as TCP.
This layering or stacking of TCP with IP or TCP/IP, adds connection-oriented, reliable data
transport capabilities to IP communication with ancillary flow, congestion, and duplicate
data-suppression controls. This allows IP to be a suitable alternative to many computer
manufacturers' proprietary network protocols, typically designed for and supported only on
the manufacturer's computer platforms.

Perhaps the most appealing benefit is the openness, mutual development, and control that the
Internet Protocol suite enjoys. With all application and networking developers having access
to the same information regarding the IP protocol structure, research and development efforts
become collaborative and self-perpetuating. From a grass roots beginning, the open nature,
flexibility, and affordability of IP led to its pervasiveness. The pervasiveness and distributed
architecture of IP across multiple computer platforms positioned IP as the unifying protocol
of choice for enterprises and the connected Internet. The service-oriented nature of the
connected Internet provided service pull, which rapidly led to IP's ubiquity. Because of these
enablers and the Internet, IP is now everywhere.

As a testament to mutual cooperation and the extensibility of the IP protocol suite, an IETF
standard (RFC 2460 and others) for a next generation of IP known as IPv6 is available. IPv6
increases the address scheme from 32 to 128 bits, ensuring the availability of IP addresses
into the next few decades. In addition, IPv6 improves networking efficiency through prefix
routing, better traffic distinction, built-in security, and co-existence and compatibility with
IPv4.

Many service providers have already applied for and received registered IPv6 address space.
The initial implementation of IPv6 is much more prevalent outside of the United States due to
the aforementioned shortage of IPv4 addresses and the rapid uptake of mobile teleputers.
IPv6 most likely will grow from different regional networks and over time spread both
nationally and globally. In addition, IPv6 is a streamlined addressing architecture that better
supports mobile IP. With wireless mobility devices requiring IP intelligence, the need for
unique IP addresses, as well as seamless IP roaming across networks is paramount to IP
mobility.

As IP increasingly moves into mobility devices such as pocket PCs and cellular phones, IP
mobility support will allow a mobile device to maintain the same IP address, known as its
home address, wherever it attaches to a network. This is conceptually similar to the way your
cell phone works today when you are traveling or roaming beyond the reach of your wireless
provider's cellular network. So far in the new century, IP is still rapidly growing despite an
economically soft start.

IP is the dominant Layer 3 networking protocol among local, long, mobile, and global
internetworks. The emergence of IP networking has decoupled network services from their
dependence on transmission media at the physical layer. IP is capable of leveling the
telecommunications playing field.
OPTICAL FIBER ANYWHERE

Light travels through glass. Light is abundant. Glass, which is easily made from sand-born
silica, flint, spar, and other siliceous materials, is also highly abundant. The geologic glass,
obsidian, was first used thousands of years ago to form weapons and jewelry. Man-made
glass objects date back into the Mesopotamian region, as early as about 1700 BC. The
Romans made glass in 1 AD and spurred rapid development and expansion of the art in the
Mediterranean region. Therefore, glass making has been around awhile.

Optical glass is also the basis of focusing and pulling an image's attributes into a camera body
to excite photographic film. For the purposes of telecommunications, optical-grade glass is
reduced to long, thin strands of extremely pure glass, known as optical fiber. The glass strand
is so thin that it takes on the flexible properties of a human hair. The light that is used to pass
through an optical fiber is non-visible light, from the infrared portions of the electromagnetic
spectrum. The infrared light's wavelength is scientifically measured in nanometers.
Frequency is another property of light waves, and for the infrared portion of the spectrum, the
frequency is measured in Tera-Hertz. The light is generated and focused through very small
lasers to concentrate the light before it enters one end of an optical fiber.

Pushing photons through optical fiber is a combination of technologies that improves many-
fold over the traditional excitation of electrons through copper-wire cable. Also with optical,
the raw materials are more abundant and manufacturing improvements are making it ever
cheaper, competing with copper cables of equivalent length. With optical, the diameters are
smaller, the information-carrying capacity is higher, there's less interference and signal loss,
fewer errors, less power expended, and much lighter handling weight. By improving speed,
capacity, and clarity, fiber optics provides service-improving values that are useful in many
industries and superior for use in communications.

Fibreless optics technology is emerging as another usage of optics through air that is well-
suited for high data rates in urban high-rise developments. Using optical and holographic
technology with self-focusing, small aperture dishes, wireless optics provide a quick and
cost-effective way to connect downtown buildings without cutting the streets or floors for
cable passage.

Optics is increasingly being complemented with IP to reduce complexity and streamline

offerings with familiar technologies. In a few short years, there'll be optical communication
available anywhere that information is generated or consumed. With more than 300 million
kilometers of optical fiber deployed worldwide, lambda switching at the meet points and free-
space (through the air) optics filling the gaps, optical is at the heart of the fiber sphere and
belongs on the short list of technological winners.

Wireless can equal fidelity with the wireless World Wide Web. The global wireless mobile
market was estimated at 2 billion subscribers at year-end 2005. According to a 2005
Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast, an annual study published by the
Telecommunications Industry Association, wireless communications spending is expected to
increase to $212.5 billion by 2008. All of these numbers suggest that wireless is enjoying a
compound growth rate of approximately 9 to 10 percent per year. Much of this growth is
being driven by wireless Internet access for cell phones along with camera, color, and
multimedia, wireless Ethernet local area networks in the enterprise (private Wi-Fi), and a
robust growth of public Wi-Fi (802.11x) access points.

The leading competing standards for wireless mobility communications include the following
technologies:

Global system for mobile communications (GSM): The original European digital cellular
standard, based on TDMA, used throughout Europe and much of the United States. GSM is
migrating to a variant of CDMA called WCDMA.

Time division multiple access (TDMA): A wireless digital transmission method that
multiplexes multiple wireless signals via distinct pre-allocated time slots onto a selected
frequency channel.

CDMA: A spread-spectrum digital communications transmission method that identifies each

separate wireless transmission with a unique coded identifier, deemed more bandwidth
efficient than TDMA.

Other wireless technologies include

General Packet Radio Service (GPRS): A standardized wireless packet switched data
service, an extension of GSM to support data. Generally considered a second-and-a-half-
generation (2.5G) data service using TDMA.

Personal Communications Services (PCS): Digital wireless communications services based

in the 2 GHz frequency range.

Enhanced Data rates for the GSM Evolution (EDGE): A third generation (3G) wireless
data standard for GSM, using TDMA.

Variants of CDMA such as CDMA2000 1X A: Qualcomm-developed technology

supporting both wireless voice and data within a standard CDMA channel.

Wideband CDMA (WCDMA): Essentially a non-Qualcomm version of CDMA

standardized as a 3G overlay for GSM heritage mobile systems, targeted at higher data
speeds than EDGE.

High Data Rate Technology CDMA 1x EV-DO: A data-optimized version of Qualcomm's

CDMA2000 1X targeting wireless data rates over 2 Mbps.

In summary, IP, optical, and wireless are the primary technological winners in the new era of
networking. The pervasiveness of IP networking, the speed of optical networking, and the
anywhere flexibility of wireless all save time. That's why these technologies rise above
others: their contribution to time value is recognizable and lucrative. More than ever, saving
time generates money.

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR NGN

The fundamental building blocks of next-generation networks, applications, and services start
with IP. At Layer 3, IP is the networking messenger between data computing applications, IP
telephony conversations, and IP video sessions. The success of IP has been beneficial to
another ancillary building block: the rise of Ethernet technology at Layer 2. From its early
beginnings in the 1970s, Ethernet has withstood all Layer 2 competitors, defeating the
technology push of all deterministic Layer 2 challengers with the pull of Ethernet's
simplicity, adaptability, and interoperability with all Layer 1 mediums. Where IP is the Layer
3 packaging,

Ethernet is the Layer 2 conveyor belt that leads to the digital versions of mail bags (wireline),
photonic locomotives (optical), and stealth jet planes (wireless), all at Layer 1. IP, Ethernet,
optical, and wireless are the must-have networking layers, in essence, the new-era building
blocks with which to construct and enhance networks that are flexible, fast, and service rich.

Using these technologies, providers are adapting their networks toward architectures that
better support data, voice, and video convergence, providing a variety of access interfaces to
deal with customer choice and augmenting their options to offer next-generation broadband
services that find success with customers.

NGN building blocks

Media gateway (MG) – protocol converter between different types of networks (Example –
MG between circuit-switched voice network - TDM flows, and the IP network - RTP packet
flows). MG processes incoming calls via requests to the Application Server using HTTP. The
media gateway (MG) terminates IP and circuit-switched traffic. MGs relay voice, fax,
modem and ISDN data traffic over the IP network using Quality of Service enabled IP
technology.

Signaling Gateway - Signaling Gateway (SG) offers a consolidated signaling interface - SS7
signaling point for the NGN platform. Also, SG supports a SIGTRAN interface (IETF SS7
telephony signaling over IP) as well as IP Proxy functions (SIP).

Media Gateway Controller

 MGC acts as the master controller of a media gateway

 Supervises terminals attached to a network
 Provides a registration of new terminals
 Manages E.164 addresses among terminals

Application Server - Application Server (AS) consists a number of modular application

building blocks; server generates VoiceXML pages. ( VoiceXML is a standards-based
scripting language for developing voice-enabled software applications). The modular design
of the next generation communications platform makes it easy to deploy enhanced services
such as unified communications solutions, multimedia messaging services, and presence &
availability management applications.

Application Server generates application documents (VoiceXML pages) in response to

requests from the Media Gateway via the internal Ethernet network. The application server
leverages a web application infrastructure to interface with data stores (messages stores, user
profile databases, content servers) to generate documents (e.g., VoiceXML pages). AS
provide interoperability between applications like WAP, HTML, and voice allowing the end
user to simultaneously input voice command and receive presentation via WAP or HTML.

Parley - Parlay is an evolving set of specifications for industry-standard application

programming interfaces (APIs) for managing network "edge" services:

 call control
 messaging
 content-based charging.

Parlay specifications are being developed by the Parlay Group, a consortium of member
companies that include AT&T, BT, Cisco, IBM, Lucent, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, and
others. Use of the Parlay specifications is expected to make it easier to add new cross-
platform network applications so that users need not depend solely on the proprietary
offerings of carriers. The Parlay Group is not a standards group itself, but sees itself as a
facilitator of needed interfaces. Application program interfaces are or will be defined for:

• Authentication
• Integrity management
• Operations, administration, and maintenance (OA&M)
• Discovery (of the closest provider of a service)
• Network control
• Mobility
• Performance management
• Audit capabilities
• Generic charging and billing
• Policy management
• Mobile M-commerce/E-commerce
• Subscriber data/user profile/virtual home environment (VHE)

The Parlay APIs are said to complement and encourage use of the Advanced Intelligent
Network (AIN) protocols.

Authentication, Authorization, Accounting (AAA) is a term for a framework for

intelligently controlling access to computer resources, enforcing policies, auditing usage, and
providing the information necessary to bill for services. These combined processes are
considered important for effective network management and security.

As the first process, authentication provides a way of identifying a user, typically by having
the user enter a valid user name and valid password before access is granted. The process of
authentication is based on each user having a unique set of criteria for gaining access. The
AAA server compares a user's authentication credentials with other user credentials stored in
a database. If the credentials match, the user is granted access to the network. If the
credentials are at variance, authentication fails and network access is denied.

Following authentication, a user must gain authorization for doing certain tasks. After
logging into a system, for instance, the user may try to issue commands. The authorization
process determines whether the user has the authority to issue such commands. Simply put,
authorization is the process of enforcing policies: determining what types or qualities of
activities, resources, or services a user is permitted. Usually, authorization occurs within the
context of authentication. Once you have authenticated a user, they may be authorized for
different types of access or activity.

The final term in the AAA framework is accounting, which measures the resources a user
consumes during access. This can include the amount of system time or the amount of data a
user has sent and/or received during a session. Accounting is carried out by logging of
session statistics and usage information and is used for authorization control, billing, trend
analysis, resource utilization, and capacity planning activities.
Authentication, authorization, and accounting services are often provided by a dedicated
AAA server, a program that performs these functions. A current standard by which network
access servers interface with the AAA server is the Remote Authentication Dial-In User
Service (RADIUS).

Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) is a client/server protocol and

software that enables remote access servers to communicate with a central server to
authenticate dial-in users and authorize their access to the requested system or service.
RADIUS allows a company to maintain user profiles in a central database that all remote
servers can share. It provides better security, allowing a company to set up a policy that can
be applied at a single administered network point. Having a central service also means that
it's easier to track usage for billing and for keeping network statistics. Created by Livingston
(now owned by Lucent), RADIUS is a de facto industry standard used by a number of
network product companies and is a proposed IETF standard.

IP NETWORKS

An IP network is a communication network that uses Internet Protocol (IP) to send and
receive messages between one or more computers. As one of the most commonly used global
networks, an IP network is implemented in Internet networks, local area networks (LAN) and
enterprise networks. An IP network requires that all hosts or network nodes be configured
with the TCP/IP suite. The Internet is the largest and best known IP network.

Each host is assigned a unique logical IP address, which distinguishes it from other nodes and
helps initiate data communication with other hosts. IP network communication occurs when a
host sends a data packet to another host by addressing its IP address. Similarly, the recipient
identifies the sender by its IP address.

Moreover, an IP network requires that all connected devices - such as servers, switches,
routers and other devices - be configured with the TCP/IP suite and have a valid IP address to
perform any network communication. All computer within an IP network must have an IP
address that uniquely identifies that individual host. An Internet Protocol-based network (an
IP Network) is a group of hosts that share a common physical connection and that use
Internet Protocol for network layer communication. The IP addresses in an IP network are
contiguous, that is, one address follows right after the other with no gaps.

Address Types in an IP Network

Within a given range of IP addresses used in every IP network are special addresses reserved
for:

 Host Addresses
 Network Addresses
 Broadcast Addresses
In addition, a IP network has a subnet mask. The subnet mask is a value stored one each
computer that allows that computer to identify which IP addresses are within the network to
which they are attached, and which IP addresses are on an outside network.

Host address

A host's IP address is the address of a specific host on an IP network. All hosts on a network
must have a unique IP address. This IP address is usually not the first or the last IP address in
the range of network IP addresses as the first IP address and last IP address in the range of IP
addresses are reserved for special functions. The host addresses are all the addresses in the IP
network range of IP addresses except the first and last IP addresses. Host IP addresses allow
network host to establish one-to-one direct communication. This one-to-one communication
is referred to as unicast communication.

All host IP addresses can be split into two parts: a network part and a host part. The network
part of the IP addresses identifies the IP Network the host is a member of. The host part
uniquely identifies an individual host.

Network Address

The network address is the first IP address in the range of IP addresses. To be more precise,
the network address is the address in which all binary bits in the host portion of the IP address
are set to zero. The purpose of the Network Address is to allow hosts that provide special
network services to communicate. In practice, the network address is rarely used for
communication.

Broadcast Address

The broadcast IP address is the last IP address in the range of IP addresses. To be more
precise, the broadcast address is the IP address in which all binary bits in the host portion of
the IP address are set to one. The broadcast address is reserved and allows a single host to
make an announcement to all hosts on the network. This is called broadcast communication
and the last address in a network is used for broadcasting to all hosts because it is the address
where the host portion is all ones. This special address also sometimes called the all hosts
address. Some vendors allow you to set an address other than the last address as the broadcast
address.

Note that each network has its own network and broadcast addresses. Network addresses do
not necessarily have a zero in the decimal representation of the host portion of their address.

HOW IT WORKS

Your computer uses a a mask in its network connection that allows it to determine whether
the computer it wants to talk to over the local network is actually on the local network or on a
network outside the local network. If it is a computer that is local, it will use a local protocol
to find the other computer's hardware address. If the other computer is not local (it is outside
the local network), then it will send the data to the local gateway (usually called the default
gateway). Your computer will try to determine the hardware address of the local default
gateway and will use the hardware address in the Ethernet header (or FDDI header or Token
Ring header etc.). The Ethernet frame will contain a payload which will be filled with IP
data. The IP address of the remote computer will be in this payload as part of the IP header.
Since the IP address in the IP datagram is the remote computer, but the Ethernet frame is
addressed to the local default gateway, the default gateway will accept the Ethernet frame,
read the IP data, verify the IP address is indeed outside the local network and then forward
the IP datagram over whatever other network connections the computer has that will allow it
to reach all the other outside networks.

That's how Internet Protocol makes routing work in a network with a default gateway.

VOIP

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that enables one to make and receive
phone calls through the Internet instead of using the traditional analogy PSTN (Public
Switched Telephone Network) lines. VoIP is packetisation and transport of classic public
switched telephone system audio over an IP network.

It allows 2-way voice transmission over broadband connection. It is also called IP telephony,
internet telephony, voice over broadband, broadband telephony.

VoIP (voice over IP) is the transmission of voice and multimedia content over Internet
Protocol (IP) networks. VoIP historically referred to using IP to connect private branch
exchanges (PBXs), but the term is now used interchangeably with IP telephony.

VoIP is enabled by a group of technologies and methodologies used to deliver voice

communications over the internet, enterprise local area networks or wide area networks. VoIP
endpoints include dedicated desktop VoIP phones, softphone applications running on PCs
and mobile devices, and WebRTC-enabled browsers.

How does VoIP work?

VoIP uses codecs to encapsulate audio into data packets, transmit the packets across an IP
network and unencapsulate the packets back into audio at the other end of the connection. By
eliminating the use of circuit-switched networks for voice, VoIP reduces network
infrastructure costs, enables providers to deliver voice services over their broadband and
private networks and allows enterprises to operate a single voice and data network. VoIP also
piggy-backs on the resiliency of IP-based networks by enabling fast failover around outages
and redundant communications between endpoints and networks.

VoIP protocols and standards

VoIP endpoints typically use International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standard codecs,
such as G.711, which is the standard for transmitting uncompressed packets, or G.729, which
is the standard for compressed packets. Many equipment vendors also use their own
proprietary codecs. Voice quality may suffer when compression is used, but compression
reduces bandwidth requirements. VoIP typically supports non-voice communications via the
ITU T.38 protocol for sending faxes over a VoIP or IP network in real time.

Once voice is encapsulated onto IP, it is typically transmitted with the real-time transport
protocol (RTP) or through its encrypted variant, secure real-time transport protocol. The
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is most often used for signaling that is necessary to create,
maintain and end calls. Within enterprise or private networks, quality of service (QoS) is
typically used to prioritize voice traffic over non-latency-sensitive applications to ensure
acceptable voice quality.

Additional components of a typical VoIP system include the following: an IP-PBX to manage
user phone numbers; devices; features and clients; gateways to connect networks and provide
failover or local survivability in the event of a network outage; and session border controllers
to provide security, call-policy management and network connections. A VoIP system can
also include location-tracking databases for E911 (enhanced 911) call routing, and
management platforms to collect call-performance statistics for reactive and proactive voice-
quality management.

VPN VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS

A virtual private network (VPN) is a technology for using the Internet or another intermediate
network to connect computers to isolated remote computer networks that would otherwise be
inaccessible. A VPN provides varying levels of security so that traffic sent through the VPN
connection stays isolated from other computers on the intermediate network, either through
the use of a dedicated connection from one “end” of the VPN to the other, or through
encryption. VPNs can connect individual users to a remote network or connect multiple
networks together.

For example, users may use a VPN to connect to their work computer terminal from home
and access their email, files, images, etc.

Through VPNs, users are able to access resources on remote networks, such as files, printers,
databases, or internal websites. VPN remote users get the impression of being directly
connected to the central network via a point-to-point link.

An image of VPN
VPN systems can be classified by:

 the protocols used to tunnel the traffic

 the tunnel‟s termination point, i.e., customer edge or network-provider edge

 whether they offer site-to-site or remote-access connectivity

 the levels of security provided

 the OSI layer they present to the connecting network, such as Layer 2 circuits or
Layer 3 network connectivity

Security mechanisms

VPNs typically require remote access to be authenticated and make use of encryption
techniques to prevent disclosure of private information.

VPNs provide security through tunneling protocols and security procedures such as
encryption. Their security model provides:

 Confidentiality such that even if traffic is sniffed, an attacker would only see
encrypted data which he/she cannot understand

 Allowing sender authentication to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the VPN

 Message integrity to detect any instances of transmitted messages having been

tampered with

Secure VPN protocols include the following:

  IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) was developed by the Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF), and was initially developed for IPv6, which requires it. This standards-
based security protocol is also widely used with IPv4. Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol
frequently runs over IPSec. Its design meets most security goals: authentication,
integrity, and confidentiality. IPSec functions through encrypting and encapsulating
an IP packet inside an IPSec packet. De-encapsulation happens at the end of the
tunnel, where the original IP packet is decrypted and forwarded to its intended
destination.

 Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) can tunnel an entire network‟s traffic, as it does
in the OpenVPN project, or secure an individual connection. A number of vendors
provide remote access VPN capabilities through SSL. An SSL VPN can connect from
locations where IPsec runs into trouble with Network Address Translation and
firewall rules.

 Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS), is used in Cisco AnyConnect VPN, to

solve the issues SSL/TLS has with tunneling over UDP.

 Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption (MPPE) works with the Point-to-Point Tunneling

Protocol and in several compatible implementations on other platforms.

 Microsoft‟s Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP), introduced in Windows Server

2008 and in Windows Vista Service Pack 1. SSTP tunnels Point-to-Point Protocol
(PPP) or Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol traffic through an SSL 3.0 channel.

 MPVPN (Multi Path Virtual Private Network). Ragula Systems Development

Company owns the registered trademark “MPVPN”.

 Secure Shell (SSH) VPN – OpenSSH offers VPN tunneling (distinct from port
forwarding) to secure remote connections to a network or inter-network links.
OpenSSH server provides a limited number of concurrent tunnels and the VPN
feature itself does not support personal authentication.

Authentication
Tunnel endpoints must authenticate before secure VPN tunnels can be established.
User-created remote access VPNs may use passwords, biometrics, two-factor authentication
or other cryptographic methods. Network-to-network tunnels often use passwords or digital
certificates, as they permanently store the key to allow the tunnel to establish automatically
and without intervention from the user.

OPTICAL NETWORKS

An Optical Network is a telecommunication network with transmission links that are optical
fibers and with an architecture that use designed to exploit the unique features if fibers. An
optical network is a type of data communication network built with optical fiber technology.
It utilizes optical fiber cables as the primary communication medium for converting data and
passing data as light pulses between sender and receiver nodes.

An optical network is also known as an optical fiber network, fiber optic network or photonic
network. Through its use of light as a transmission medium, an optical network is one of the
fastest communication networks. It works by using an optical transmitter device to convert an
electrical signal received from a network node into light pulses, which are then placed on a
fiber optic cable for transport to a receiving device.

Unlike copper based networks, the light pulses of an optical network may be transported
quite a distance until the pulses are regenerated through an optical repeater device. After a
signal is delivered to a destination network, it is converted into an electrical signal through an
optical receiver device and sent to a recipient node.

Moreover, an optical network is less prone to external inference and attenuation and can
achieve substantially higher bandwidth speeds than copper networks.

Optical networking is defined as the types of connection between more then two networking
devices with the help of fiber optical cables for the sake of computer networking and for
other uses such as surfing internet, watching TV, telecommunication and file sharing
technology etc is called as the optical networking. Optical networking is based on the optical
networks for the purpose of the high rate connectivity in offices or at the home. There are
different types of networking technologies are used for transmitting the data from one place
to another but optical networking provide the fastest data transmission over the networks.

How it Works?

Working of the optical networking depends upon the different components used in the optical
networks such as the fiber optical cables. In optical networking with the help of fiber optics
users can deliver the data between two points at higher speed with similar to that of the light.
Core is the main source of transmission in the optical networking. These cores are packed in
a special type of layer which maintains the light signals in it. This wrapping also prevents the
light to move outward from the cores of fiber optics. This step really prevents the data losing
during transmission. According to this optical networks works on large distances and
facilitate the users at long areas.

Types of Optical Networking:

There are several types of optical networking but all are depends upon the optical networks.
Some of the important types of optical networks are as follows

Passive Optical Networking:

A type of optical networking in which only single strand of fiber optics can take part and
build a connection between the multiple computer networking clients from different areas is
called as the passive optical networking. But sometimes customers complained that it can
lower the rate of internet connection.
Synchronous Optical Networking:

Another type of optical networking that deals with the data transmission is the synchronous
optical networking. In this case optical networks can monitor that all the data related to the
information can pass smoothly from one place to another. It is more effective then the
physical networking. It also observes the type of data; the type of data should be of one form
and can be relayed properly.

Star networking:

Networking carried out with the help of star networks is called as the star networking. Star
networks deals with connection between the main computer systems to the other multiple
computers over the network. They are also able to enhance the performance of the connection
san the network.

Benefits of Optical Networking:

As optical networking is based upon the faster cables of fiber optics, so it has many
advantages in the field of data transmission from one point to another between multiple
computers over network. Some common advantages are given below

1. They are faster as compared to other mode of transmission of data between distances.
Co axial cables are also used for the data transmission purposes but they are quite
slow.

2. Optical networks are more reliable and convenient for the users to enjoy the facility of
the transmission from different places at large distances because all the data is
wrapped in the core of fiber optics.

3. the connectivity of the optical networking is more efficient as compared to other

connections between the networks

Drawbacks of Optical Networking:

Some disadvantages of the optical networking are also there over its benefits. The major
disadvantages are that it is very expensive process to construct the fiber optics for optical
networks and it is very difficult to join the fiber optical cables as compared to the copper
cables etc.

Wired Networks

Wired networks, also called Ethernet networks, are the most common type of local area
network (LAN) technology. A wired network is simply a collection of two or more
computers, printers, and other devices linked by Ethernet cables. Ethernet is the fastest wired
network protocol, with connection speeds of 10 megabits per second (Mbps) to 100 Mbps or
higher. Wired networks can also be used as part of other wired and wireless networks. To
connect a computer to a network with an Ethernet cable, the computer must have an Ethernet
adapter (sometimes called a network interface card, or NIC). Ethernet adapters can be
internal (installed in a computer) or external (housed in a separate case). Some computers
include a built-in Ethernet adapter port, which eliminates the need for a separate adapter
(Microsoft). There are three basic network topologies that are most commonly used today.

The star network, a general more simplistic type of topology, has one central hub that
connects to three or more computers and the ability to network printers. This type can be used
for small businesses and even home networks. The star network is very useful for
applications where some processing must be centralized and some must be performed locally.
The major disadvantage is the star network is its vulnerability. All data must pass through
one central host computer and if that host fails the entire network will fail.

On the other hand the bus network has no central computer and all computers are linked on
a single circuit. This type broadcasts signals in all directions and it uses special software to
identify which computer gets what signal. One disadvantage with this type of network is that
only one signal can be sent at one time, if two signals are sent at the same time they will
collide and the signal will fail to reach its destination. One advantage is that there is no
central computer so if one computer goes down others will not be affected and will be able to
send messages to one another.

The third type of network is the ring network. Similar to the bus network, the ring network
does not rely on a central host computer either. Each computer in the network can
communicate directly with any other computer, and each processes its own applications
independently. A ring network forms a closed loop and data is sent in one direction only and
if a computer in the network fails the data is still able to be transmitted.
Typically the range of a wired network is within a 2,000-foot-radius. The disadvantage of
this is that data transmission over this distance may be slow or nonexistent. The benefit of a
wired network is that bandwidth is very high and that interference is very limited through
direct connections. Wired networks are more secure and can be used in many situations;
corporate LANs, school networks and hospitals. The biggest drawback to this type of
network is that it must be rewired every time it is moved.

Wireless Networks

A wireless network, which uses high-frequency radio waves rather than wires to
communicate between nodes, is another option for home or business networking. Individuals
and organizations can use this option to expand their existing wired network or to go
completely wireless. Wireless allows for devices to be shared without networking cable
which increases mobility but decreases range. There are two main types of wireless
networking; peer to peer or ad-hoc and infrastructure.

An ad-hoc or peer-to-peer wireless network consists of a number of computers each

equipped with a wireless networking interface card. Each computer can
communicate directly with all of the other wireless enabled computers.
They can share files and printers this way, but may not be able to access
wired LAN resources, unless one of the computers acts as a bridge to the
wired LAN using special software.

An infrastructure wireless network consists of an access

point or a base station. In this type of network the access
point acts like a hub, providing connectivity for the wireless
computers. It can connect or bridge the wireless LAN to a
wired LAN, allowing wireless computer access to LAN
resources, such as file servers or existing Internet
Connectivity. (compnetworking.about.com)

There are four basic types of transmissions standards for wireless networking. These types
are produced by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). These standards
define all aspects of radio frequency wireless networking. They have established four
transmission standards; 802.11, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g.

The basic differences between these four types are connection speed and radio frequency.
802.11 and 802.11b are the slowest at 1 or 2 Mbps and 5.5 and 11Mbps respectively. They
both operate off of the 2.4 GHz radio frequency. 802.11a operates off of a 5 GHz frequency
and can transmit up to 54 Mbps and the 802.11g operates off of the 2.4 GHz frequency and
can transmit up to 54 Mbps. Actual transmission speeds vary depending on such factors as
the number and size of the physical barriers within the network and any interference in the
radio transmissions.

Wired vs. Wireless Networking

Following table mentions comparison between wired network and wireless network types.

Specifications Wired network Wireless network

lower compare to wired networks, But

advanced wireless technologies such
as LTE, LTE-A and WLAN-11ad will
make it possible to achieve speed par
Speed of operation Higher equivalent to wired network

Low, as Frequency Spectrum is very

System Bandwidth High scarse resource

More as wireless subscriber stations,

Less as cables are wireless routers, wireless access points
Cost not expensive and adapters are expensive

Wired network
installation is
cumbersome and it Wireless network installation is easy
Installation requires more time and it requires less time

Limited, as it
operates in the area
covered by
connected systems
with the wired Not limited, as it operates in the entire
Mobility network wireless network coverage
 Transmission copper wires, optical
medium fiber cables, ethernet EM waves or radiowaves or infrared

requires hubs and

switches for network More area is covered by wireless base
Network coverage coverage limit stations which are connected to one
extension extension another.

LAN (Ethernet), WLAN, WPAN(Zigbee, bluetooth),

Applications MAN Infrared, Cellular(GSM,CDMA, LTE)

Interference is less Interference is higher due to obstacles

Channel Interference as one wired between wireless transmitter and
and signal power network will not receiver e.g. weather conditions,
loss affect the other reflection from walls, etc.

QoS (Quality of Poor due to high value of jitter and

Service) Better delay in connection setup

High compare to
wireless counterpart,
as manufactured
cables have higher
performance due to
existence of wired
technology since Reasonably high, This is due to failure
Reliability years. of router will affect the entire network.

NGN SERVICES

Several services that will be important drivers in the NGN environment are:

1. Voice Telephony: Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, 3-Way Calling.

2. Voice Portal: Provide callers with anywhere, anytime access to information like news,
weather, stock quotes, and account balances using simple voice commands and any
telephone.
3. Data services: bandwidth-on-demand, connection reliability.

4. Multimedia services: This allows customers to converse with each other while
displaying visual information.

5. Virtual Private Networks: allow large, geographically dispersed organizations to

combine their existing private networks with portions of the PSTN, thus providing
subscribers with uniform dialing capabilities.

6. Public Network Computing: Provides public network based computing services for
businesses and consumers.

7. Unified Messaging: Supports the delivery of voice mail, email, fax mail, and pages
through common interfaces.

8. E-Commerce: Allows consumers to purchase goods and services electronically over the
network.

9. Call Center Services: A subscriber could place a call to a call center agent by clicking on
a Web page.

10. Interactive gaming: Offers consumers a way to meet online and establish interactive
gaming sessions.

11. Home Manager: These services could monitor and control home security systems,
energy systems, home entertainment systems, and other home appliances.

NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE CONVERGENCE

Infrastructure convergence for providers is about network convergence, primarily the

migration of many product-specific, purpose-built platforms toward packet-based network
structures such as IP/MPLS. Infrastructure convergence seeks to consolidate all types of
Layer 1 and Layer 2 services around and onto a common Layer 3, packet-switched core
network for the delivery of integrated IP data, IP voice, and IP video services.

To enable infrastructure and network convergence, highly capable, highly reliable, easily
manageable routing, switching, and optical platforms are needed to push service interface
variety and selective intelligence to the edge of networks and interface that variety into a
simplified core network with IP/MPLS packet infrastructures.

The benefits of a converged network infrastructure allow

 Simplified, single-protocol IP/MPLS core with multiservice edge

  Service richness, leverage, and speed to revenue
 Any Layer 2 and Layer 3 service, anywhere
 High-margin service convergence
 On-demand provisioning
 Scalable capacity for customer and revenue growth
 Reduced operational expense and complexity

IP is strong enough and IP-based routing and switching platforms are now reliable enough to
execute a convergence directive of the provider's network infrastructure.

Converged IP networks seamlessly blend various technologies to create new business tools,
leading to new applications, processes, and services that wouldn't be possible with discrete
networks. By handling all forms of electronic communication within a single packet-based IP
infrastructure, benefits can include reduced capital and operational expenditures and unique
and exponentially better levels of customer service and user experiences.

SERVICES CONVERGENCE

Next-generation network services are the new drivers of industry profitability. With any and
all communication providers possessing the ability to participate in voice, data, and video
telecommunications, service substitutions are relentlessly proliferating. Customer markets are
widely fragmenting, sometimes into customer sets of one, and new service providers and new
service offerings are pursuing them.

Service convergence is also occurring through business convergence. Some technology

companies and provider segments have already merged, such as Sprint with Sprint PCS and
Nextel, SBC with AT&T, and so on. Traditional wireline providers are using wireless
divisions or ownerships to access high growth markets and, in turn, finance new strategic
builds. Cable operators are using convergence to add voice to their video and Internet data
services.

Some can consider acquisitions or mergers with service-based content companies to find
mutual synergies and to place a service "spin" on their product offerings. Others might
partner and multipartner to gain breadth and scale. Virtually all of the telecommunication
titans are developing multiple services and then converging on the ones that show
opportunity and promise. Communication services for end-user devices converge around the
individual person, their automobile, and their home. Mobility applications are enjoying
tremendous growth, feeding the furnace of wireless offerings with the convection of open, IP-
based protocols. Increasingly used for both business and personal connections, IP services
link these different user spaces together.

Providers are using convergence to deliver voice, video, and data via Layer 2 VPNs, Layer 3
VPNs, Ethernet, storage, and Internet into a services amalgamation that meets the needs of
businesses and consumers. Services convergence provides multimedia services anywhere,
and does it seamlessly over any access and device. For today, telecommunications services
encompass broadband Internet access; e-commerce; multimedia of various forms including
digital music, digital video, digital voice, digital books, and digital photography; interactive
gaming and entertainment; home networking and automation; personal security monitoring;
medical conferencing; online education; teleworking; and so on. These services are available
in devices large and small, both fixed and mobile.

FROM TECHNOLOGY PUSH TO SERVICE PULL

Technology Push is when research and development in new technology, drives the
development of new products.

Technology Push usually does not involve market research. It tends to start with a company
developing an innovative technology and applying it to a product. The company then markets
the product.

E.G. OF TECHNOLOGY PUSH

Touch Screen technology appeared as published research by E.A. Johnson at the Royal Radar
Establishment UK, in the mid 1960s. The technology began to attract research and
development funding. In the 1980s, Hewlett Packard introduced a touch screen computer.
1993 hand writing recognition introduced - Apple‟s Newton PDA. 1996, Palm introduced its
Pilot Series. Touch screen technology now seen in smart phones.

The term „Market Pull’, refers to the need/requirement for a new product or a solution to a
problem, which comes from the market place. The need is identified by potential customers
or market research. A product or a range of products are developed, to solve the original
need. Market pull sometimes starts with potential customers asking for improvements to
existing products. Focus groups are often central to this, when testing a concept design or an
existing product.

E.G. OF MARKET PULL

The digital camera; Twenty years ago, there was a „market‟ requirement for a camera that
could take endless photographs, that could be viewed almost immediately.
Market pull (market need) eventually led to electronics companies developing digital
cameras, once miniature digital storage, processing power and improved battery performance
was available. Market pull ensured that photo editing software also developed, in parallel
with the development of digital camera technology.