Network Standards

This report describes the principles of networking protocols and standards with an example of the AI Company which has moved to a new office and production area. The company needs to set up a manufacturing floor according to specifications it has provided. The basic reference models and layered architecture is discussed in accordance to the requirements to install a good network. The company wants a network describing a future scope that the systems can have a maximum bandwidth of 1Gbps.

A particular area of the office comprises only of the systems to avoid any kind of damage of the network cables. This area is designed to facilitate routing physical network cables. The company has analysed the requirements and prepared a rough budget to install the computer network keeping the cost low but effective.

Network standards help to ensure interoperability between products made by different manufacturers. There are various network standards like OSI , IEEE, ITU-T and ANSI. All these networks achieve interoperability by providing a gateway between two or more protocols. The way by which the network standards ensure interoperability is explained with an example of OSI model. 

The functions of any network are defined in specifications of International Standards Organization (ISO) Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. Standards can be defined as the building blocks for any product as they cultivate protocols which are accepted by any network [1].

The company has set few transmission rules so that the interoperability between the products made by different manufactures can be assured. OSI has seven layers and each layer have distinctive functions.

The top most layer is the application layer which maintains objectives of communication between the networks. This results in providing electrical interoperability.

The compatibility of the data is assured by the presentation layer which is the sixth layer of OSI model. Here, interoperability of requirements is provided.

Interoperability of scalability is taken care by the fifth layer which is the session layer. The connection between the devices i.e. how a connection would be established, maintained and then terminated is decided in this layer.

Interoperability of functionality is obtained by the transport layer which is the fourth layer of this model. This layer is responsible of transportation of data along with providing necessary correction to it.

The independent routing and switching of the data is done in the network layer which is the third layer. This layer forms a base of various different protocols. The best example is the IP protocol that it adds interoperability along with scalability and flexibility. The exact routing over the network also maintains interoperability between products of different manufacturers.

OSI Model

The second layer is named as Data Link Layer which is responsible for providing the authentication of the transfer of a data in a particular connection.

The physical layer devotes characteristics like functional, electrical or procedural which forms basic criteria for bits to communicate. This layer also ensures that all the networks functions for an equivalent communication transmission [2].

This can be concluded that the OSI based transmission networks provides interoperability for the manufacturing company.

Few network model standards which are used commonly are: OSI, The DoD and The TCP/IP. 

This model was implemented by the defence system  and it  came into existence in early 1970s.DoD comprises of four layers described as,

• Network Access Layer
• Internet Layer
• Host-to-Host Layer
• Process Layer

The advanced version of DoD is TCP/IP.

• This protocol comes under transport layer and hence it makes connection of hosts over a network. [3].
• It is an advance version of DoD.
• TCP/IP model have a common presentation and session layer.
• It has 4 layers just like DoD.
• Its network layer gives connectionless service only.
• It follows horizontal access.
• The delivery of packets is not ensured here.
• This protocol is defined and hence cannot be changed[4].

• OSI is not a protocol rather it is a standard which makes its use in computing systems.
• It was developed by ISO.
• OSI model has distinct presentation and session layer.
• It has 7 layers.
• Its network layer gives connectionless as well as connection-oriented services.
• It follows vertical access.
• The delivery of packets is assured.
• It is a reference model for other networks.
• This standard keeps on changing according to the use and requirements [5].

 

Figure 1: Comparison model of OSI, TCP/IP, DoD

 

Figure 2: Layer protocols

 

Figure 3: TCP/IP and OSI model

Many types of media cables are used in networking defined below as,

A peculiar characteristic of fibre optic cable is that the transmission of information is through light rather than by electricity. Therefore they are named as fibre optic cables. They provide resistance to outer surroundings as they have a coating of plastic on the layers. They are very costly but provides good authentication. There are two types of fibre optic cables named as Single mode and Multi-mode. Their speed ranges from 100Mbps to 100Gbps along with this they cover a distance of about 10kms [6].

These cables are used for high-frequency transmission as they are made up of solid-copper core. When compared with other cables these cables are expensive but they are 500m long in length. There are two types of fibre optic cables named as 75Ohm and 50Ohm.Co-axial cables speed ranges from 10 to 100Mbps and apart from these they provide anti-jamming properties.

By the name it suggests that these cables form a wireless connection and hence applications of these cables are cell phones and wireless mouse. Rather than using normal frequencies they make use of infrared and radio frequencies. Frequency range of these cables are defined between 3 kHz to 300Ghz.They are cheap as the cost of installing wires cut down. The transmission rates of these cables are from 9kbps to 54Mbps [7].

As the name suggests, these cables have twisted pairs which prevents the noise produced from the other pairs. Because of their shape, they provide self-shieling of its wires in a particular network. The basic design of these cables is that they form a circuit with the wires for transmission of data. These cables operate in a limited distance i.e. they are 100m long in length. There are two types of twisted-pair cables named as unshielded twisted pair and shielded twisted pair. Frequency range of these cables is between 10Mbps and 1000Mbps.The bandwidth of these cables is small [8].

Department of Defence (DoD)

By comparing all the media cables it can be concluded that the company should make a use of fibre-optic cables for establishing their network. These cables are able to achieve all the criterion’s mentioned by the company. As they provide resistance from the outer surroundings and can be used for long distances. They are not very difficult to install but are costly. With respect to the future scope they are good as they have a bandwidth range of 100Mbps to 100Gbps.Along with this these cables are highly secure. 

An asynchronous connection channel can be defined as a channel in which the sender and the receiver do not make a use of the same clock signal. As a result, both of them do not have to be in the communication channel simultaneously. The data transfer rate is slow as a single character of data is transferred at a time. Another reason for a slow transfer rate is that the sender puts the data on the channel but the receiver uses it only when he wants to and hence the channel remains booked. The connection keeps the data itself. Application of these networks is microcomputer and dial-up modem [9].

A synchronous connection channel is defined as a channel in which the sender and the receiver use the same clock signal. Hence, both of them have to be a part of the communication channel until the communication terminates. The data transfer rate here is faster as a sequence of characters is transferred at a particular time. It is a bi-directional communication channel because the data is sending a received at both ends. But the communication terminates if any one whether the sender or the receiver leaves the connection. These types of channels are used in phone calls [10].

This can be seen easily that the synchronous connection provides fast data transfer rate and the networks of the company is sending sequence of data. Hence, the company should make a use of synchronous connection channels. Also, the clock rate at which the data is transferred is fixed which is done only in synchronous connection. 

The length of data records is 1000bytes and the transmission time is 0.25 seconds.

Therefore,

Transmission line speed of synchronous connection= Length of data record/  Transmission time       

    =1000/0.25

    =4000bytes/sec

Hence, the transmission line speed supported by this synchronous connection will be 4000bytes/second

Conclusion

The various network standards which help to establish interoperability between products made by different manufacturers is discussed in the report. It was concluded that the fibre optic cable is the best cable to establish the network as they are beneficial for a long term although it is costly. The three models of network standards i.e. OSI, DoD and TCP/IP is compared and their features are evaluated. It was also concluded that synchronous connection will be the most efficient to to implement an application which will transfer data records to a backup site. The synchronous connection has a fixed clock rate and transmits data at a fast speed. 

References

[1] K. Cannon, K. Caudle and A. Chiarella, CCNA Guide to Cisco Networking Fundamentals. USA: Cengage Learning, 2008.

[2] M. Solomon, D. Kim and J. Carrell, Fundamentals of Communications and Networking. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2014.

[3] White, Data Communications and Computer Networks: A Business User’s Approach, 8th ed. USA: Cengage Learning, 2015.

[4] A. Blank, TCP/IP Foundations. USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.

[5] W. Odom, CCENT/CCNA ICND1 640-822 Official Cert Guide. USA: Cisco Press, 2011.

[6]T. Anttalainen and V. Jaaskelainen, Introduction to Communication Networks. London: Artech House, 2014.

[7] S. McQuerry, “CCNA Self-Study: Network Media (The Physical Layer)”, 2004. [Online]. Available: https://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=169686 [Accessed: 21- Dec- 2017].

[8] K. Laven, “Down to the Wire”, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://itel.com/understanding-network-cables/. [Accessed: 21- Dec- 2017].

[9] G. Ballou, Handbook for Sound Engineers. London: Taylor and Francis, 2015

[10] K. Barker and K. Wallace, CompTIA Network+ N10-006 cert guide. USA: Pearson IT Certification, 2015.