MULTIMEDIA NETWORKS

Multimedia Networks
Telephone n/w Data n/w Broadcast Television n/w Integrated services digital n/w (ISDN) Broadband multiservice n/w (B-ISDN)

Telephone Networks
PSTN- Public switched telephone n/w. GMSC- Gateway mobile switching center. IGE- International gateway exchange. LE- Local exchange. PBX- Private branch exchange.

Modem?

Data Networks
Designed to provide basic data communication services like email and general file transfers. Two networks of this type are: X.25 network and Internet. X.25 network has relatively low bit rate data applications so not suited for multimedia applications.

 Communication Protocols- An agreed set of rules that are adhered to by all communicating parties Defines not only the seq. of messages but also the syntax of these messages

Home/small business connectivity

Access of Internet through home/small business through ISP User devices are connected to ISP network through a PSTN with modems or through ISDN If business comprises of a single site ,business user can access through site/campus network If it comprises of multiple sites then through an enterprise wide area network

Inter-site backbone network

For an enterprise wide area network, multiple sites are connected using inter-site backbone network It provide a set enterprise wide communication services If Comm protocols used by the comps are those defined for use of Internet ,then all users have access to wide range of services The enterprise network is then known as intranet

Internet backbone network

Diff types of network are all connected to the Internet backbone network through an internetworking unit called gateway , responsible for routing and relaying messages to and from the connected network All data networks operate in what is called a packet mode A packet is a container for a block of data and at its head ,is the address of the intended recipient computer which is used to route the packet through the network

Broadcast Television networks

Designed to support the diffusion of analog television programs throughout wide geographical areas. Broadcast media include: Cable distribution network : for a town or city Satellite network : for larger areas Terrestrial broadcast network : for larger areas The traffic is 1-way or asymmetric.

Cable Networks

Satellite/Terrestrial Broadcast network

STB
The subscriber accesses the cable distribution network through a set-top box. A cable modem integrated into STB provide a low bit rate channel(connect subscriber to PSTN) and a high bit rate channel(connect subscriber to Internet) from subscriber to cable head end A modem designed to operate over cable TV lines. Because the coaxial cable used by cable TV provides much greater bandwidth than telephone lines, a cable modem can be used to achieve extremely fast access to the World Wide Web. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access in the form of cable Internet A high speed PSTN modem integrated into STB provides with an interaction channel enhancing the range of additional services such as home shopping and games playing.

Integrated services digital networks

An integrated services digital network (ISDN) is a structured all digital telephone network system that was developed to replace (upgrade) existing analog telephone networks. ISDN is a broadband service provides end to end digital communication for high speed data supporting voice, video and multimedia applications. Broadband as compare to Baseband is a type of service that supports logical channels. Designed to provide PSTN users with the capability of having additional services. This was achieved by (i) converting the access circuits that connect user equipment to the network into an all-digital form, (ii) providing 2 separate communication channels over these circuits. This all-digital access circuit is known as a digital subscriber line (DSL)

Subscriber phones
Digital Phone-electronics that converts analog voice and call setup system into a digital form is integrated in phone handset. Analog Phone-electronics is located in n/w termination equipment. Basic rate access : supports 2 independent 64kbps channels or single 128kbps channel (with an aggregation unit to synchronize 2 64kbps channels) Primary rate access : supports 1.5/2.0 Mbps channel It can also support a single switched channel of px64kbps, where p=1,2...30.

DSL
ISDN BRI and ISDN PRI are two services of ISDN technology used worldwide The digitization of a telephone-quality analog speech signal produces a constant bit rate binary stream referred as bit-stream of 64kbps. (64kbps is hence used as a basic unit.) ISDN basic rate interface (primarily for consumers) and ISDN primary rate interface (primarily for businesses). The basic rate interface (BRI) is 144 kbps and is divided into three digital channels The ISDN BRI (Basic Rate Interface) offers two B(bearer) channels and one D(data) channel (2B+D). BRI B-channel service operates at 64 kbps and is meant to carry user data; BRI D-channel service operates at 16 kbps and is meant to carry control and signalling information, although it can support user data transmission under certain circumstances. The digital channels for the BRI are carried over a single, unshielded, twisted pair of copper wires The primary rate interface (PRI) is 1.54 Mbps

 As per design of ISDN , 2 channels designed for two different calls require 2 separate circuits . To synchronize 2 separate 64kbps bit streams into a single 128 kbps stream requires additional box of electronics to perform aggregation function

Broadband multimedia network.

"Broadband" means it can support a bit rate higher than that an ISDN can support (>2Mbps). Enhanced ISDN were called broadband integrated services digital network B-ISDN An ISDN sometimes referred as N-ISDN Due to advances in compression ,it can not only support ISDN but multimedia communication applications also Different multimedia applications require different bit rate. The rate being determined by types of media that are involved

ATM network
All media types are converted into digital form and integrated together, and the resulting stream is divided into fixed-sized packets known as cells. Switching fixed-sized cells can be carried out much faster than switching variable-length packets. Different multimedia applications generate cell streams of different rates and hence the rate of transfer of cells through the network varies. This mode of transmission is known as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). This type of network is also known as ATM network or cell-switching network.

Protocol Convergence in ATM

The introduction of the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), which is neither circuit nor packet oriented transmission protocol but a conjunction of the best of the both techniques, permits the convergence of routing and switching technologies and the specification of new communication platforms, supported by different interfaces and transfer protocols.

Diagram

Interworking unit
The main objective of the ATM Interworking Unit is the conversion of ISDN and Ethernet traffic to the ATM formats, most conversion procedures have to be located on lower layers of the OSI protocol reference model, namely the Physical Layer and the Medium Access Control Layer