Telecommunication networks
Telecommunication networks are transmission systems enabling information
to be transmitted in analogue or digital form between various different sites
by means of electromagnetic or optical signals. The information may consist
of audio or video data or some other type of data. The networks are based
either on wired or wireless infrastructures. Typical examples of
telecommunication networks are the telephone landline network, the mobile
network, cable TV networks or the internet.
Telecommunication networks for two-way speech transmission (phone
networks)
Telecommunication networks for data transmission
Merging of speech and data transmission via voice-over IP technology
Telecommunication networks for two-way speech transmission
(phone networks)
Various types of phone network can be used for two-way speech
transmission. In the early days of the telephony era, the phone network was
wire-based and transmitted the speech signals by means of electromagnetic,
analogue signals. Nowadays, the phone networks are digital and can be wire-
based (landline network) or wireless (mobile network). The system for
connecting subscribers has progressed from being purely circuit-switched to
packet-switched.
Telecommunication networks for data transmission
Telecommunication networks for transmitting data formerly used numerous
different protocols. Owing to the triumph of the internet, the internet protocol
(IP) has gained widespread acceptance as standard protocol for data
transmission. Nowadays, virtually all data networks are IP-based. The data in
these networks are divided up into individual data packets and tagged with
the destination and source addresses. At the network nodes, the destination
addresses are evaluated by so-called routers, and the data packets are sent
to the next node along the route to the destination address. In principle, the
individual packets can find differing routes through the network and reach
their destination at different times. The destination system puts them back in
the correct order if necessary.
Merging of speech and data transmission via voice-over IP
technology
The increasing efficiency of IP networks, short latency periods and jitter
values coupled with high bandwidths make data networks suitable for time-
critical real-time applications such as telephony. Thanks to voice-over IP
technology, phone networks have now almost fully merged with data
networks. This has the advantage for the provider that only one single
infrastructure needs to be operated for data and speech transmission. The
user benefits from a multitude of new applications providing flexible
communication options. This means phone systems can be entirely cloud-
based. Users do not need their own system software and can use all the
telephone services available from any location with internet access.
Related Articles
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
What is VoIP?
The Voice over Internet Protocol, also called IP telephony, is a method
of communication for making calls over a broadband Internet connection as
an alternative to regular calls made over an analogue phone using the PSTN.
These VoIP calls can happen entirely over the Internet but where required,
gateways also link to the PSTN. This means that VoIP users can still connect
to anyone with a telephone number including local, mobile, and international
numbers. VoIP services can be accessed from a computer with a so-
called softphone, from an IP phone, from a smartphone or from a
conventional landline phone that is connected to a VoIP adapter.
