Introduction to Telecoms

Course Overview

Tremendous advances have been made in telecommunication services, technology and networks in recent years and when these advances are added to the convergence between telecommunications, the Internet and entertainment services, a very complex landscape is created.

This course brings together the vital components of modern telecommunications into one course that provides the ideal primer for this diverse range of topics. As well as focussing on the major telecommunications technologies, the course looks in detail at services and also has a section on the current state of the telecoms marketplace, which offers a range of statistics and case studies. Subsequent sections provide an overview of fixed and mobile access networks. The types of data services currently available are then considered, which is followed by a look at Internet operation and the growing role of Voice over IP (VoIP). The course continues with a look at the principal technologies and protocols such as Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), and closes with an overview of trends in telecommunications, identifying emerging and future technologies.

Audience

• This course is primarily aimed at employees who are in, or who are entering, technical roles in the telecommunications industry yet do not have a background in telecommunications systems.
• The course is also very useful for engineers and scientists working in telecommunication-related areas. This includes equipment commissioning, equipment design, Government security or forensic work, service developers, legal professionals supporting operators or local authorities, support staff and those in technical management roles.

Skills Gained

On completion of this course the student will be able to:

• identify the services expected by subscribers and describe how these are delivered
• describe the current state of the telecommunications market and identify the major market players
• identify telecommunication network types and suggest appropriate technologies for each area of operation
• describe the architecture of a telephony network and the role of the network elements
• identify the switching, signalling and transmission technologies that support telephony-based services
• identify fixed line and radio access network technologies and compare their characteristics
• describe the challenges of using radio in the access network and list the radio technologies deployed
• identify the attributes of data transmission and relate this to network requirements
• describe the principles of packet-based data networks
• describe the structure of the Internet and identify the major technologies used within it
• describe how Internet technologies and protocols are being utilised in other telecommunication areas
• list the typical applications and services that can be delivered by internets
• describe the convergence paths that are evident in the industry

Examinations

N/A

Prerequisites

In order to achieve the maximum benefit from this course it is recommended that the student has a technical background (not necessarily in telecommunications) and intends to progress in a technical role.

Course Outline

Telecoms Services

• Services in fixed and mobile networks
• Classification of services
• Bearer services and teleservices
• Supplementary Services (SS)
• Value Added Services (VASs)

Telecoms Markets

• The telecoms market
• Increasing telecoms competition
• Global telecoms statistics
• Telecoms regulation
• Standards bodies for telecoms
• Case studies

Telephony Networks

• Switching in telephony networks
• Numbering
• Routing and signalling
• Information transfer
• Simple call set-up
• Signal concepts and signal representation
• Speech signals
• Bandwidth
• Analogue transmission
• From PSTN to ISDN: digitizing the network
• Telecoms billing systems
• Telecoms network management
• Service implementation
• Services for revenue generation
• Intelligent Networks (INs)
• Service Delivery Platforms (SDP)
• Open Service Access (OSA)

Radio Access Networks

• Radio signals
• Wireless operating environments
• Mobile network cell types
• Capacity and coverage in cellular systems
• Mobile network architecture - GSM/GPRS
• Location areas and routing areas
• Making and receiving calls
• UMTS
• cdmaOneT and CDMA2000T
• Wireless LANs (WLANs)
• Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs)
• Broadband access with IEEE 802.16
• IEEE 802.20
• Microwave communications (point-to-point)
• Satellite systems
• Digital Video Broadcast for Handhelds (DVB-H)
• Mobile television

Data Services

• Modes of switching
• Circuit switching and packet switching
• Connectionless and connection-oriented services
• Frame Relay
• The Internet Protocol (IP)
• Billing for data services

The Internet

• What is the Internet?
• The Internet timeline
• Internet Protocols (IPs)
• What does IP support?
• Real-time Internet applications
• Non-real-time Internet applications
• Voice over IP (VoIP)
• The Internet architecture
• Internet access
• Internet organisations

Technologies and Protocols

• Digital transmission systems
• The Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH)
• The Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)
• Optical fibre
• Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)
• Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
• Signalling protocols
• CAS and CCS
• ITU-T Signalling System No. 7 (SS7)
• Protocols for mobile networks, data services and network management
• Connection-oriented services
• Connectionless services
• Introduction to MPLS
• The xDSL family

Trends in Telecoms

• IP-enabled convergence
• Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC)
• Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA)
• The British Telecom Fusion service
• The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)
• The all-IP network
• IP Telephony (IPT)
• Video over IP
• The Fourth Generation (4G)

Benefits of Course

In addition to gaining a good understanding of telecommunications networks and technologies, attending this course will enable the student to deliver operational improvements and generate cost savings or reduce project timelines by:

• improving network design, planning, operations and maintenance
• avoiding the laborious search through specifications, standards and white papers, while benefiting from a practical analysis and interpretation of such documentation by experienced engineers
• knowing better where to look to accelerate research and fact finding and facilitate earlier project completion
• improving the equipment procurement process by better analysis and challenge of technical specifications and supplier responses, thus
• giving greater certainty to on-target performance and value-for-money purchasing
• shortening the learning curve and speeding productive inputs from new team members and freeing more experienced employees' time
• evaluating better a system's capabilities through improved knowledge, leading to superior operations and maintenance performance
• providing greater confidence in the sale of equipment by anticipating customers' technical requirements and being able to promote relevant
• superior equipment performance

Follow On Courses

Students employed in specific roles will benefit from courses as IP Engineering Overview, TCP/IP Protocol Suite, SDH Principles, MPLS Overview, ATM Principles, SS7 Engineering, and many more.

Introduction to Telecoms / TY2600