EEE 437 : Telecommunications Engineering

Prof. Kazi Mohiuddin Ahmed

Fall Semester, 2016

Telecommunications Engineering (3 credit-hours)

This course is to provide the understanding of the

fundamentals of telecommunications engineering
and its evolution from Plain Old Telephone System

(POTS) to present-day convergence of fixed and

mobile networks (wired and wireless networks).

Main Topics to be discussed:

Telecom Organizations and Standardization
Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
Signal Transmission over the Network
Switching and Signaling
Multiplexing of Analog and Digital Signals
Line-of-Sight Radio Relay Links
Satellite Links
Optical Links
Mobile Communications Network
Internet Technology
Broadband Access Networks
Emerging Wireless Networks

Telecommunications
Telecommunications is no longer about just the wires and devices,

but the cumulative value of the things that the network delivers for
customers. It is about making tremendous amount of data
accessible and easy to use for billions of users. The best and
leading products and services will be those that are completely
transparent and offer the most value to the quality-of-life in realtime.--------David Belanger, Chief Scientist, AT & T Labs.

Telecommunications
(Tele-means over a long distance; or far)

Telecommunications Network (TN)

TN is one of the most complex systems in
present day.
Services provided through TN have essential
impact on the development of the community.
TN is considered as one of the most essential
infrastructure components for the development
of a country.

Role of TN in Everyday Life

Everyday voice communications, TV, Radio, Data,
Internet
Banking, automatic teller machines, telebanking;
Aviation, booking of tickets:
Sales, wholesale, and order handling;
Credit card payments at shops;
Booking hotel rooms by travel agencies;
Material purchasing by industry;
Government operations, such as taxation, e-governance
All e-business and e-services
And many, many other services

Mobile Phone Penetration

Rank

Country or
regions

Number of mobile
phones

Population

Connections/100
citizens

Data evaluation
date

World

6,800,000,000+

7,012,000,0001] 97

2013

01

China

1,227,360,000[4]

1,349,585,838[5] 90.9

December 2013

02

India

924,318,927

1,220,800,359[6] 74.16

31 August 2014

03

United States 327,577,529

317,874,628[8]

April 2014

04

Brazil

276,200,000

201,032,714[10] 136.2

July 2014

05

Russia

256,116,000

142,905,200[10] 155.5

July 2013

06

Indonesia

236,800,000

237,556,363

99.68

September 2013

07

Nigeria

167,371,945

177,155,754

94.5

Feb 2014

08

Pakistan

140,000,000[14]

180,854,781[15] 77[16][17]

July 2014

09

Japan

121,246,700

127,628,095

95.1

June 2013

10

Bangladesh

116,508,000

165,039,000

69.5

August 2014

103.1

OSI Model
Data unit
Host Data
layers

Layer
7. Application

Function
Network process to application

6. Presentation Data representation and encryption

5. Session
Segments 4. Transport
Media Packets
layers
Frames

Bits

Interhost communication
End-to-end connections and reliability (TCP)

3. Network

Path determination and logical addressing (IP)

2. Data link

Physical addressing (MAC & LLC)

1. Physical

Media, signal and binary transmission

Network
(Layer 3)

This layer provides switching and routing technologies, creating logical

paths, for transmitting data from node to node. Routing and forwarding are
functions of this layer.

Data
Link
(Layer 2)

At this layer, data packets are encoded and decoded. It handles errors in
the physical layer, flow control and frame synchronization. The data link
layer is divided into two sublayers: The Media Access Control (MAC)
layer and the Logical Link Control (LLC) layer. The MAC sublayer
controls how a source on the network gains access to the data and
permission to transmit it. The LLC layer controls frame synchronization,
flow control and error checking.

Physical
(Layer 1)

This layer conveys the bit stream - electrical impulse, light or radio signal
-- through the network at the electrical level.

Communication Protocols

A protocol is a convention or standard that controls or enables the

connection, communication, and data transfer between two endpoints. In its
simplest form, a protocol can be defined as the rules governing the whole
process of communications. Protocols may be implemented by hardware,
software, or a combination of the two. At the lowest level, a protocol defines
the behavior of a hardware connection.
TCP/IP is a very good example of Protocol.

We can say that:

Telecommunication Network allows us to exchange among ourselves
(or to send/receive only) voice, text message, image, video or any
data signals.
Telecommunication Network is an aggregation of interconnected
networks of several types.
Telecommunication Network is circuit-switched or packet-switched
originating from voice signal transmission (telephone network) or
data signal transmission (data network) respectively.
Presently, all networks have converged into one Global
Telecommunication Network consisting of all types of networks.

So, what is a Telecom Network?

A Telecommunications Network can be

defined as the set of devices,
mechanisms, procedures and protocols by
which the end-user equipment in the
network
can
exchange
information
meaningfully.

Functions of Telecom Networks

Typical functions include:
A path by which electrical signals can be
transmitted.
A mechanism by which bits can be converted to
and from electrical signals (in digital systems).
Methods to overcome deficiencies in the
electrical signal path causing error in
interpretations.
Techniques for selecting and maintaining a path
through the network to perform the above
functions.

Historical Perspectives
1800-1837 Preliminary developments: Volta discovers the primary
battery; Fourier and Laplace present mathematical treatises;
Ampere, Faraday, and Henry conduct experiments on
electricity and magnetism; Ohm's law (1826); Gauss, Weber,
and Wheatstone develop early telegraph systems.
1838-1866 Telegraphy: Morse perfects his system; Steinhill finds that the
Earth can be used for a current path; commercial service is
initiated (1844); multiplexing techniques are devised; William
Thomson calculates the pulse response of telegraph line
(1855); transatlantic cables are installed.

1845

Kirchoffs circuit laws.

1864

Maxwell's equations predict electromagnetic radiation.

1876-1899 Telephony: Alexander Graham Bell perfects the acoustic

transducer; first telephony exchange with eight lines; Edison's
carbon-button transducer; cable circuits are introduced;
Strowger devises automatic step-by-step switching (1887);
Pupin presents the theory of loading.
1887-1907 Wireless telegraphy: Heinrich Hertz verifies Maxwell's theory;
demonstrations by Marconi and Popov; Marconi patents
complete wireless telegraph system (1897); commercial
service begins, including ship-to-shore and transatlantic
systems.

1904-1920 Communication electronics: Lee De Forest invents the Audion

(triode) based on Fleming's diode; basic filter types are
devised; experiments with AM radio broadcasting; the Bell
System completes the transcontinental telephone line with
electronic repeaters (1915); multiplexed carrier telephony is
introduced: H. C. Armstrong perfects the super heterodyne
radio receiver (1918); first commercial broadcasting station.
1920-1928 Carson,

Nyquist,

Johnson,

and

Hartley

present

their

transmission theory.
1923-1938 Television:

Mechanical

image-formation

system

is

demonstrated; theoretical analysis of bandwidth requirements;

DuMont and others perfect vacuum cathode-ray tubes; field
tests and experimental broadcasting begin.

1931

Teletypewriter service initiated.

1934

H. S. Black develops the negative feedback amplifier.

1936

Armstrong's paper states the case of FM radio.

1937

Alec Reeves conceives pulse code modulation.

1938-1945 Radar and microwave systems are developed during World

War II; FM is used extensively for military communications;
hardware, electronics, and theory are improved in all areas.
1945-1948 Arthur C. Clark proposes global communications by using 3
GEO satellites.
1944-1947 Mathematical representations of noise are developed;
statistical methods for signal detection are developed.

1948-1950 C. E. Shannon publishes the founding papers of information

theory; Hamming and Golay devise error-correcting codes.
1948-1951 Transistor devices are invented.
1950

Time division multiplexing is applied to telephony. Hamming

presents the first error-correction codes.

1953

Color TV standards are established in United States.

1958

Long-distance data transmission system is developed for

military purposes.

1960

Maiman demonstrates the first laser.

1961

Integrated circuits are applied to commercial production.

1962

Satellite communication begins with Telstar I.

1962-1966 Data transmission service is offered commercially; wideband

channels are designed for digital signaling; pulse code
modulation (PCM) proves feasible for voice and TV
transmission; theory for digital transmission is developed;
Viterbi presents error-correcting codes; adaptive equalization
is developed.

1964

Fully electronic telephone switching system is put into service.

1965

Mariner IV transmits pictures from Mars to Earth.

1966-1975 Commercial satellite relay becomes available; optical links

using lasers and fiber optics; ARPANET is created (1969) and
followed by international computer networks.
1968-1969 Digitalization of telephone network begins.
1970-1975 Standards of PCM by ITU are developed.
1975-1985 High-capacity optical systems are developed; the breakthrough
of optical technology and fully integrated switching systems;
digital signal processing by microprocessors.

1980-1995 Modern cellular mobile network is put into service: NMT in

Northern Europe and AMPS in the United States; OSI
reference model is defined by International Standards
Organization (ISO).
1985-1990 LANs breakthrough; Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN) standardization finalized; public data communication
services become widely available; Optical transmission
systems replace copper systems in long-distance wideband
transmission; SONET is developed; Global System for Mobile
(GSM) and SDH standardization is finalized and first systems
put into commercial use.

1990-1997 The first digital cellular system GSM is put into commercial
use and its breakthrough is felt worldwide; deregulation of
telecommunications in Europe proceeds and satellite- TV
systems become popular; Internet usage and services expand
rapidly because of the WWW.
1997-2001 Telecommunication community is fully deregulated and
business grows rapidly; cellular networks such GSM and
CDMA expand worldwide; Internet traffic exceeds public
switched telephone network (PSTN) traffic; commercial
applications of Internet expand and a share of conventional
speech communications is transferred from PSTN to Internet;
ATM technology makes wide area networks (WAN) networks
wideband; performance of LANs improve with Gbps
technologies.

2001-

High-definition TV (HDTV); 3G mobile communication systems;

broadband networks and access systems bringing new multimedia services
available; dominance of wireless systems like 802.11(e.g.WLAN, WiFi), 802.15(WPAN e.g. Bluetooth, UWB); 802.16(e.g. WiMAX-fixed
and mobile); introduction of LTE (4G) mobile system.

Development of Telecommunications services.

Standardization in Telecommunications
Communication networks are designed to serve a
wide variety of users with equipment from many
different vendors.
To design and build networks effectively, standards
are necessary to achieve interoperability,
compatibility and required performance in a costeffective manner.
Standards (open standards) are needed to enable
the interconnections of systems, equipment and
networks of different manufacturers, vendors, and
operators.

Effects of Standardization
Standards enable competition
Standards lead to economies of scale in manufacturing
and engineering
Political interests often lead to different standards in
Europe, Japan, and America
International standards are threats to the local industries
of big countries but opportunities to the industries of
small countries
Standards make possible the interconnection of systems
from different vendors
Standards make users and network operators vendor
independent and improve availability of the systems
Standards make international services available

Some Examples of International Standards

International telephone numbering, country codes:
without globally unique identification of subscribers,
automatic international telephone calls would not be
available
Telephone subscriber interface.
PCM coding and primary rate frame structure: make
national and international digital connections between
networks possible.
Television and radio systems.
Frequencies used for satellite and other radio
communications.
Connectors and signals of PC, printer, and modem
interfaces.
LANs: enable us to use computers from any
manufacturer in our network, for example.

Interested Parties in
Standardization

Network
Operators

Service
Users
Equipment
Manufacturers

Academic
Experts

Network operators support standardization:

To improve the compatability of telecommunication systems;
To be able to provide wide-area or even international services;
To be able to purchase equipment from multiple vendors.

Equipment manufacturers participate in standardization:

To get information about future standards for their development
activities as early as possible;
To support standards those are based on their own technologies;
To prevent standardization if it opens their own markers.

Service users participate in standardization:

To support the development of standardized international services;
To get alternative system vendors (multivendor networks);
To improve the compatibility of their systems.

Other interested parties include:

Government officials who are keen on having national approaches
adopted as international standards;
Academic experts who want to do research in new technological
approaches.

Standardization Bodies
National Authorities
Regional Organizations
Global Organizations

National Authorities
ANSI
BSI

DIN
SFS

Some examples of national standardization authorities (BSI, British

Standard Institute; DIN, Deutche Industrie-Normen; ANSI, American
National Standards Institute; SFS, Finish Standards Institute).

European Organizations

European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI)

European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization/European

Committee for Standardization (CEN/CENELEC)

Confrence Europenne des Administration des Postes et des Telecommunication or European Conference of Posts and Telecommunication
Administration (CEPT)

ETSI

CEN/
CENELEC

CEPT

Committees of ETSI
Joint ETSI/ECMA committee (JEEC)
Joint technical committee (ETSI/EBU JTC)
Security algorithms group of experts (SAGE)
Strategic review committee on European information infrastructures (SRC6)
Program advisory committee (PAC)
Network aspects (NA)
Business telecommunications (BTC)
Transmission & multiplexing (TM)
Terminal equipment (TE)
Equipment engineering (EE)
Methods for testing and specification (MTS)
Human factors (HF)
Special mobile group (SMG)
Satellite earth stations & systems (SES)
Radio equipment & systems (RES)
Communication networks & systems interconnection (ECMA TC32)

American Organizations

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Electronic Industries Association (EIA)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

FCC
IEEE
EIA

Global Organizations
International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
International Standards
Organization/International Electrotechnical
Commission (ISO/IEC)
ITU-T (CCITT)
ISO/IEC

ITU-R (CCIR)

ITU Structure
Plenipotentiary
Conference

ITU
Council

ITU-T
Telecommunication
Standardization
Sector

ITU-R
Radiocommunication
Sector

World
Telecommunication
Standardization
Conferences

World/Regional
Radiocommunication
Conferences

Telecomms
Standard.
Study
Groups

Radio
Regulations
Board

Telecommunication
Development
Sector

World/Regional
Telecommunication
Development
Conferences

Telecomms
Development
Study Groups

Radiocomms
Study Groups

Director
Bureau

General Secretariat

Advisory
Group

Director
Bureau

Advisory
Group

Coordination Committee

Structure of the ITU

Director
Bureau

Advisory
Group

Examples of ITU-T Study Groups

SG

Service definition

SG

Network operation

SG

Tariff and accounting principles

SG

Network maintenance

SG

Protection against electromagnetic environment effects

SG

Outside plant

SG

Data networks and open system communications

SG

Terminals for telematic services

SG

Television and sound transmission

SG

10

Languages for telecommunication applications

SG

11

Switching and signaling

SG

12

End-to-end transmission performance of networks and

terminals

SG

13

General network aspects

SG

14

Modems and transmission techniques for data, telegraph and

telematic services

SG

l5

Transmission systems and equipment

Big Global Operators

INTELSAT
INMARSAT
Vodafone
NTTDoCoMo
AT&T
British Telecom
France Telecom
German Telecom
Telstra
Telenor
TeliaSonera
Satellite based: Globalstar, Iridium, Thuraya, ACeS