| Course 2201 The PSTN |
| Loops and Trunks • POTS • Circuit-Switching • LECs, CLECs and IXCs • Analog • Voiceband • DTMF • SS7 |
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| We begin with a history lesson, understanding how and why telephone networks and the companies that provide them are organized into local access and inter-city transmission, or as we will see, Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) and Inter-Exchange Carriers (IXCs). |
| Then we will establish a basic model for the PSTN and understand its main components: Customer Premise, Central Office, loop, trunk, outside plant, circuit switching, attenuation, loop length, remotes, and why knowledge of the characteristics of the loop remains essential knowledge even though we are moving to Voice over IP. |
| Next, we'll cover aspects of telephony and Plain Ordinary Telephone Service, including analog, the voiceband, twisted pair, supervision and signaling including DTMF. The course is completed with an overview of SS7, the control system for the telephone network in the US and Canada. |
On completion of this course, you will be able to draw a model of the Public Switched Telephone Network, identify and explain its components and technologies including:
• Loops and trunks, CO, telephone switches and circuit-switching
• Twisted pair, the outside plant, remotes, fiber to the neighborhood
• The founding, breakup and re-emergence of AT&T in the US; Bell & TELUS in Canada
• LECs, IXCs and CLECs
• Plain Ordinary Telephone Service (POTS):
• Analog, the voiceband, how it relates to copper wires, electricity, circuits and sound
• Supervision, dial tone, ringing, lightning protection, tip and ring, -48 volts
• Touch-tone and DTMF
• Basics of SS7 and call routing |
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| In many parts of the world, particularly outside Canada, the US and Western Europe, this is the physical telephone network, as deploying radio transceivers is far cheaper than embarking on a new project to pull copper wires and/or fiber to every residence. |
| Most of this course is devoted to mobile wireless telecommunications. We begin with basic concepts and terminology including base stations and transceivers, mobile switches and backhaul, handoffs, cellular radio concepts and digital radio concepts. |
| Then, we cover spectrum-sharing technologies and their variations in chronological order: GSM/TDMA vs. CDMA for second generation, 1X vs. UMTS CDMA for third generation along with their data-optimized 1XEV-DO and HSPA, how Steve Jobs ended the standards wars with the iPhone and explaining the OFDM spectrum-sharing method of LTE for 4G. |
| This course is completed with a lesson on WiFi, or more precisely, 802.11 wireless LANs, and a lesson on satellite communications. |
You’ll gain a solid understanding of the key principles of wireless and mobile networks:
• Coverage, capacity and mobility
• Why cellular radio systems are used
• Mobile network components and operation
• Registration and handoffs
• Digital radio
• "Data" over cellular: Internet access
• Cellular technologies: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, OFDM
• Generations: 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G
• Systems: GSM, UMTS, 1X, HSPA, LTE
• WiFi, 802.11 wireless LANs
• Satellite communications |
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| The remaining four courses in the CTNS package are on the "IP" telecommunications network and its three main enabling technologies: Ethernet, IP and MPLS, and beginning with the OSI model and its layers to establish a framework. |
| If you'd prefer to take just these four "IP" courses, please check out the Certified IP Telecom Network Specialist package. |
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| Course 2212 The OSI Layers and Protocol Stacks |
| Protocols & Standards • OSI Model • Layers • Protocol Stacks • How Protocol Stacks Work |
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| This course establishes a framework for all of the subsequent discussions: the OSI 7-Layer Reference Model, which identifies and divides the functions to be performed into groups called layers. This framework is required to sort out the many functions that need to be performed, and to be able to discuss separate issues separately. |
| First, we'll define the term "protocol" and compare that to a standard. Then we'll define "layer" and how a layered architecture operates, and provide an overview of the name, purpose and function of each of the seven layers in the OSI model. |
| Then, we'll go back through the story more slowly, with one lesson for each of the layers, examining in greater detail the functions that have to be performed and giving examples of protocols and how and where they are used to implement particular layers. |
| The result is a protocol stack, one protocol on top of another on top of another to fulfill all of the required functions. To make this more understandable, this course ends with the famous FedEx Analogy illustrating the concepts using company-to-company communications, and an analogy of Babushka dolls to illustrate how the protocol headers are nested at the bits level. |
On completion of this course, you will be able to
• Define a protocol and differentiate that from a standard
• Explain why a layered architecture is required
• List the seven layers of the OSI model, the name, purpose and functions of each
• Explain how the layers relate to each other
• Explain how a protocol stack operates and protocol headers. |
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| Course 2111 Ethernet, LANs and VLANs - which could also be titled "Layer 2" |
| MAC Addresses • 802.3 and Ethernet • Broadcast Domains • LAN Cables • LAN Switches • VLANs |
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| This course is everything you need to know about LANs. |
| We'll begin with the original LAN: Ethernet and its bus topology, defining "broadcast domain" and explaining its fundamental operation and characteristics: CSMA-CD access control, MAC addresses and MAC frames. |
| Then we'll cover the IEEE 802 standards and the evolution of Ethernet from 10BASE-T to Gig-E, LAN cables and the TIA-568 cable categories, basic cabling design; what "bridging" means and how a LAN switch works. |
| This course is completed with the important concept of VLANs: defining broadcast domains in software, a key part of basic network security practice. |
On completion of this course, you will be able to explain
• Ethernet and the original bus design
• What a broadcast domain is
• What MAC addresses are
• The access control mechanism
• The IEEE 802 series of standards, 802.2 and 802.3
• Gigabit Ethernet on copper and fiber
• Codes like 100BASE-T
• LAN cables and the TIA-568 cable categories
• LAN switches, also called "Layer 2" switches
• How and why VLANs are used to separate devices |
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| Course 2213 IP Networks, Routers and Addresses - which could also be titled "Layer 3" |
IP Packets • Packet Networks • Routers • Static, Dynamic, Public, Private Addresses • NAT • IPv6 |
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| This is a comprehensive course on IP addresses, routers and packets. We begin with the two basic principles of packet networks: bandwidth on demand, also known as overbooking or statistical multiplexing; and packet-switching, also known as packet forwarding or routing. |
| We'll understand what routers do and where they are located, routing tables and the basic operation of a router and the standard strategy deploying an edge router between the LANs and the WAN at each location. |
| Then we'll cover IP version 4: address classes and how they are assigned to Regional Internet Registries then ISPs then end-users, dotted-decimal notation, static addresses, dynamic addresses and DHCP, public addresses, private addresses and NAT. |
| The course concludes with IPv6: the IPv6 packet and changes from IPv4, IPv6 address allocations and assignments and end up understanding how IPv6 subnets will be assigned to broadcast domains and 18 billion billion addresses per residence. |
On completion of this course, you will be able to explain
• What a packet is
• What a router is
• Overbooking and bandwidth on demand
• Why and how it can be implemented
• What a network is, what a private network is
• How routers implement a network by connecting links
• How routers move packets between broadcast domains
• Basic network design and security: packet filtering
• The basic structure and contents of a routing table
• The Customer Edge
• IPv4 address blocks: Class A, Class B and Class C
• Dotted-decimal notation
• Static addresses and dynamic addresses
• DHCP and how and why it is used to assign both
• Public addresses and private addresses
• How, why and where each is used
• NAT: Network Address Translation
• IPv6
• How IPv6 addresses are allocated to ISPs
• How each residence gets 18 billion billion IPv6 addresses |
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| Course 2214 MPLS and Carrier Networks |
| Carrier Packet Networks • Technologies • MPLS • SLAs • CoS • Integration & Aggregation |
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| MPLS and Carrier Networks is a comprehensive, up-to-date course on the networks companies like AT&T build and operate, how they are implemented, the services they offer, and how customers connect to the network. |
| The IP packets and routing of the previous course is one part of the story. Performance guarantees, and methods for quality of service, traffic management, aggregation and integration is another big part of the story, particularly once we leave the lab and venture into the real world and the business of telecommunications services. |
| We'll begin by establishing a basic model for a customer obtaining service from a provider, defining Customer Edge, Provider Edge, access and core, and a Service Level Agreement: traffic profile vs. transmission characteristics. |
| Next, we'll understand virtual circuits, a powerful tool used for traffic management and how they are implemented with MPLS, explaining the equipment, jargon and principles of operation. |
Without bogging down on details, we’ll cut through buzzwords and marketing to demystify
• Carrier packet networks and services
• Customer Edge (CE) and Provider Edge (PE)
• Service Level Agreements
• Traffic profiles
• Virtual circuits
• QoS, Class of Service and Differentiated Services
• Integration, convergence and aggregation
• MPLS and other network technologies
• How this relates to TCP/IP
• How MPLS is used for business customer VPNs
• How MPLS is used for integrated access:
• How all services are carried together on one circuit
• How MPLS is used to prioritize and manage IP packets
• "MPLS services" vs. the Internet
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| This course can be taken by those who need just an introduction to carrier networks and MPLS, as well as by those who need to establish a solid base on which to build more detailed knowledge. |
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