Unit 2 The Network Infrastructure For E Commerce
Unit 2 The Network Infrastructure For E Commerce
Introduction:
• Electronic commerce needs a network infrastructure to transport the content-text, audio, video,
graphics etc.
• The network infrastructure that provides such a data transmission facility is called I-Way or
information super highway.
• Thus, information super highways can be defined as the high capacity, electronic and interactive
pipeline to the consumer or business premise that is capable of supporting large number of e-
commerce applications simultaneously.
• It is called interactive because it provides two-way communication between users and service
providers or between one user and another user.
• It is called high-capacity electronic pipeline because it must provide broadband link.
• Historically, the voice and data networks have evolved separately, with voice networks relying on
circuit switching and data networks using packet switching techniques.
• Thus, a business user requiring voice, data, and video conferencing services often had to use three
separate networks- a voice network, a data network, and a videoconferencing network.
• I-way provides integration solution to the shortcoming of the need to have separate network for
voice, data and video services respectively.
• Nowadays information super high way is emerged as basic network infrastructure for all
ecommerce activities due to its capability of providing integrated text, graphics, audio, and video
services.
• When two nodes communicate with each other over a dedicated communication path, it is called
circuit switching.
• There is a need of pre-specified route from which data will travels and no other data is permitted.
• In circuit switching, to transfer the data, circuit must be established so that the data transfer can
take place.
• Applications which use circuit switching may have to go through three phases: Establish a circuit,
Transfer the data, Disconnect the circuit.
Broadband Connections:
• A narrowband network is one that provides a single channel for communications across the
physical medium.
• Broadband refers to the ability to stack frequencies on a single transmission medium, providing
multiple channels on the same wire.
• Broadband technologies transmit multiple channels from same carrier by multiplexing the
channels.
Figure: FDM
• Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) is the division of common transmission facility into two or more
channels, one at a time. Each connection occupies a portion of time in the link.
• TDM is a method in which time slots on a shared transmission line are assigned to devices and the
devices can only transmit data in the assigned time slots only.
Figure: TDM
• Various components contained in I-way can be broadly divided into three categories: Consumer
access equipment, Access Roads or Media, and Global Information distribution network.
• These are the devices at consumer end and enables consumers to access the network. It consists
of hardware and software.
• Hardware component includes devices such as computers, modems, routers, switches etc. for
computer networks, set-top boxes, TV signal descramblers etc. for television networks, Cell
phones etc. for cellular networks and so on.
• And software systems installed in those hardware devices includes browsers, operating systems
etc.
• The type of consumer access equipment used depends upon the communication mode used.
These equipments are also called customer premise equipments or terminal equipments.
• These are the network infrastructure that provides linkage between businesses, homes, and
schools to global information distribution network. This component is often called the last mile in
telecommunication industry.
• Access road providers can be divided into four categories: Telecom based, Cable TV based,
Wireless based, and Computer based online systems.
• Main function of access roads is to connect consumers with e-commerce applications.
• Telecom industries provides high speed electronic pipeline which is capable for carrying large
volume of audio, video, and text data.
• Cable television systems also provides high-capacity broadband network infrastructure to connect
large number of customers with their system.
• These systems adopt digital transmission of data and have a lot of unutilized capacity which can
be useful for transmitting information from ecommerce applications to customers.
• Cable TV based systems can be of two types: wired cable TV, wireless cable TV.
• In wired cable TV based systems connects customers mainly by using coaxial-cables. But in recent
days they are replacing trunk lines from optical fibers whereas local loops are based on coaxial-
cable links.
• This further strengthened the capacity of cable TV based network infrastructure and provides
ecommerce applications with more capacity links.
• Now, cable TV companies have started to use wireless communication to connect customer
homes in cost effective way rather than using optical fiber or coaxial cable-based interconnection.
• Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) is used for wireless cable TV transmission. It uses Super high
frequency (SHF) channels to transmit data over the air.
• These signals are received by special antennas mounted in roofs of subscribers and then it is
distributed within the building with help of coaxial cable.
• With help of DBS, it is easy to make cable TV in rural areas at affordable cost.
• Thus, emergence of wireless cable TV infrastructure makes it easy to provide ecommerce services
in rural areas also.
• Although there are lots of benefits of wireless cable TV network infrastructure, it also suffers from
limitations. For example, heavy rainfall may cause picture quality degradation or interruption.
• Wireless operators provide network infrastructure by using radio frequencies which are Omni
directional waves and have high penetration power.
• The wireless-based systems have revolutionized the ways of thinking about information delivery.
Technology is the most important factor.
• The rapid growth in technology has impacted the wireless industry in a number of ways:
• The Internet is the global system of interconnected mainframe, personal and wireless computer
networks that use the protocol suite TCP/IP to link billions of devices worldwide.
• It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and
government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and
optical networking technologies.
• Internet, intranets and extranets are providing online services which provides 24-hour computer-
based supermarkets to customers.
• It targets a wide range of ecommerce applications such as video on demand, home shopping, e-
mail, information publishing, information retrieval, video conferencing and many more.
• The demand of these online services is increased dramatically due to widespread use of PCs in
homes and businesses.
• Due to low hardware costs and enhanced graphics and multimedia support, customers are fast
attracted towards online services entertainment, education, shopping, and information services.
• ISP provides Internet access, employing a range of technologies to connect users to their network
and thus provides access roads for ecommerce applications,
• The global information distribution networks consist of the infrastructure crossing the countries
and continents.
• They include the long-distance telephone lines, satellite networks, and the internet. Long distance
telephone connectivity is provided through cable by the inter-exchange carriers.
• Long distance cellular networks are using the wireless technologies to connect the consumers
worldwide.
• Satellite networks play a vital role in the communication industry. They have advantages over the
terrestrial networks in that:
o They are accessible from any point of the globe.
o They can provide broad band digital services to many points without the cost of acquiring
wire/cable installation.
o They can add receiving and sending sites without significant additional costs.
• The success of e-commerce-based business depends on the information flow and to make
information flow smooth and capable I-way is required.
• The success or failure of any creativity, product or services is a key driver of market forces.
• The underlying of market drives of I-way is important because e-commerce applications are
dependent on the underlying I-way.
Functions of I-Way
• It develops business relationship among all sorts of business and with people all around the world
by the help of global information distribution network.
• It is used for communicate between the business partners at any locations through the network
communications.
• It acts as an information system for any organizations.
• I-Way controls unwanted information distributed over the complex network.
• It allows multiple forms of messages, sent and received over the same network.
• The Internet is a meta-network, that is, a network of networks that spans the globe. It is
impossible to give an exact count of the number of networks or users that comprise the Internet,
but it is easily in the thousands and millions respectively.
• The Internet employ once of standardized protocols which allow for the sharing of resources
among different kinds computers that communicate with each other on the network.
• These standards are sometimes referred to as the Internet Protocol Suite.
• Packet switching technique is employed by Internet to transmit messages from one location to
another location which makes high utilization network resources.
• This is the reason behind low cost of internet The Internet is a distributed system. There is no
central store.
• Technically, no one runs the Internet. Rather, the Internet is made up of thousands of smaller
networks.
• However, our connection to the Internet is probably controlled by an Internet Service Provider
(ISP).
• People and organizations connect into the Internet so they can access its massive store of shared
information. The Internet is an inherently participative medium. Anybody can publish information
or create new services.
• A computer connected to the Internet is commonly referred to as a host. Connections are made
using telephone lines, cable data lines, fiber optic, or even wireless signals.
• The data passed back and forth between host computers using packets and protocols.
• Internet use client/server model of communication. We (client) make request in the internet by
using web browser. Some computer in the internet (server) makes resources requested by us and
responds to our request by using software called web server.
History of Internet
• The Internet began as ARPANET back in 1969. ARPANET was a large wide-area network created
by the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA). It served
as a test bed for new networking technologies. It linked many universities and research centers.
• The intention here was to ensure that the transfer of information between servers was possible
if there was a nuclear attack.
• The network employed a set of standard protocols to create an effective way for people to
communicate and share data with each other.
• ARPAnet's popularity continued to spread among researchers and in the 1980 the National
Science Foundation (NPS), linked several high-speed computers, and took charge of what had
come to be known as the Internet.
• By the late 1980's, thousands of cooperating networks were participating in the Internet.
• In 1991, the U.S. High Performance Computing Act established the NREN (National Research &
Education Network). NREN's goal was to develop and maintain high-speed networks for research
and education, and to investigate commercial uses for the Internet.
• The Internet has been improved through the developments of services such as World Wide Web.
• Even though the Internet is predominantly thought of as a research-oriented network, continues
to grow as an informational, creative, and commercial resource every day and all over the world.
• The research and education community founded Internal2 to serve its networking needs. The
Internet2 Project was originally established by 31 university researchers in 1996 under the
auspices of EDUCOM, and was formally organized as the not-for-profit University Corporation for
Advanced Internet Development (UCAID) in 1997.
• It later changed its name to Internet2. It provides the U.S. research and education community
with a network that satisfies their bandwidth-intensive requirements.
• The objectives of the Internet2 consortium are:
o Developing and maintaining a leading-edge network,
o Fully exploring the capabilities of broadband connections through the use of new-
generation applications,
o Transferring new network services and applications to all levels of educational use, and
eventually the broader Internet community.
Internetworking Protocols:
• A protocol is a set of rules and regulations that governs data communication. It ensures that two
parties in the communication speak the same language.
• A protocol defines:
o Syntax-What is communicated
• OSI is acronym of Open System Interface. This model is developed by the International
Organization of Standardization (ISO) and therefore also referred as ISO-OSI Model.
• It uses the modular concept by providing different functionalities in different layers required to
communicate with another system.
• With layered approach protocol development can be divided into different independent groups
and also the modification to the protocol will be easy in the future.
• It consists of seven layers. This is not used method practically but widely used as reference model.
All practically used protocols are based on the idea of OSI reference model.
• This is the lowest layer of OSI reference model and is connected with transmission media.
• It is responsible for the following activities:
o Activating, maintaining and deactivating the physical connection
o Defining voltages and data rates needed for transmission
o Converting digital bits into electrical signal
o Deciding whether the connection is simplex, half duplex or full duplex
• Data link layer provides services for reliable transfer of information across the physical link.
• This layer performs the following functions:
o Performs synchronization, flow control and error control for the information which is to
be transmitted over the physical link.
o Enables error detection, and adds error detection codes to the data which are to be
transmitted.
Network Layer
• Network layer provides upper layers with independence from the data transmission and switching
technologies used to connect systems.
• Following are the functions of Network Layer:
o To act as the network controller by deciding which route data should take.
o To switch the signals through selected route to another end.
o To divide the outgoing messages into packets and to assemble incoming packets into
messages for higher levels.
Transport Layer
• This is the layer that guarantees transmission of data from one end to another end.
• The Transport layer performs the following functions:
o It decides if the data transmission should take place on parallel paths or single path.
o It breaks the data groups into smaller units so that they are handled more efficiently by
the network layer.
o It provides reliable end-to-end message delivery with acknowledgments.
Session Layer
• Session is the logical connection established between applications in sending and receiving
machines.
• The Session layer performs the following functions:
o It establishes, manages and terminates the connection (Session) between co-operating
applications.
o It controls logging on and off and user identification.
• This layer makes it sure that the information is delivered in such a form that the receiving
system will understand and use it.
• The Presentation layer performs the following functions:
o Data translation
o Data conversion: bit order, CR-CR/LF, integer-floating point, and so on.
o Data compression: reduces the number of bits that need to be transmitted on the
network.
o Data encryption: encrypt data for security purposes. For example, password encryption.
Application Layer
• This is the layer with which end users interact. Users create things to be sent or open the things
received by using this layer.
• This layer contains a variety of commonly needed functions:
o Resource sharing and remote file access
o Remote printer access and network management
o Directory services and electronic messaging etc.
TCP/IP Protocol
• TCP/IP model is practical model and is used in the Internet. TCP/IP is acronym of Transmission
Control Protocol and Internet Protocol.
• Even though this protocol was originally created for what we now call the Internet, it is easily
transferred to networks of all sizes.
• It provides the easiest methodology for communicating between computers through
standardized protocols that ignore the hardware and software platforms of the individual pieces
of equipment.
• Layers of TCP/IP protocols are shown in the figure below:
• The Network Interface layer (also called the Network Access layer) is responsible for placing
TCP/IP packets on the network medium and receiving TCP/IP packets off the network medium.
• TCP/IP was designed to be independent of the network access method, frame format, and
medium.
• In this way, TCP/IP can be used to connect differing network types.
• Independence from any specific network technology gives TCP/IP the ability to be adapted to new
technologies.
• The Network Interface layer encompasses the Data Link and Physical layers of the OSI model.
Internet Layer
• The Internet layer is analogous to the Network layer of the OSI model.
• The Internet Layer protocols provide three specific services:
o A connectionless delivery service: A mechanism to break the data up into individual
packets or frames on the transmitting side and to put them back together on the receiving
side (fragmentation and reassembly).
o The routing functions necessary to interoperate with other networks.
• The core protocols of the Internet layer are IP (Internet Protocol), ARP (address resolution
protocol), RARP (reverse address resolution protocol, ICMP (Internet control management
protocol), and IGMP (Internet group management protocol).
Transport Layer
• The Transport layer (also known as the Host-to-Host Transport layer) is responsible for providing
the Application layer with session, performing flow control, error control etc.
• The Transport layer encompasses the responsibilities of the OSI Transport layer and some of
responsibilities of the OSI Session layer.
• The core protocols of the Transport layer are Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the User
Datagram Protocol (UDP).
• TCP provides a one-to-one, connection-oriented, reliable communications service. TCP is
responsible for the establishment of a TCP connection, the sequencing and acknowledgment of
packets sent, and the recovery of packets lost during transmission.
• On the other hand, UDP provides a one-to-one or one-to-many, connectionless, unreliable
communications service.
Application Layer
• The Application layer provides applications the ability to access the services of the other layers
and defines the protocols that applications use to exchange data.
• There are many application layer protocols and new protocols are always being developed.
• The most widely-known application layer protocols are:
o The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used to transfer files that are web pages of the
World Wide Web.
o The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used for downloading and uploading the files.
• Most TCP/IP application uses TCP (transmission control protocol) in transport layer. UDP (user
datagram protocol) is also common as part of TCP/IP protocol suite.
• The table given below differentiates these two protocols.
The architecture of the internet is hierarchical in nature. A brief description of internet architecture is:
Backbone:
• Backbones are formed by large corporations like AT&T. These corporations have their own server
farms connected to the backbone.
• Internet service providers can be of two types: Regional ISPs and Local ISPs.
• Regional ISPs are also referred as Network service providers. These are business organization that
sells bandwidth or by accessing internet backbone directly.
• On the other hand, Regional ISPs connects various local ISPs in the city sent through its routers.
Local ISP's purchase bandwidth from regional ISP's, divides it into smaller bandwidth and sells to
its clients.
• Clients: Clients lie at lowest level of internet hierarchy. These are the computers at home or offices
that are connected to local ISP's.
Managing Internet
• It is often said that there is no central control, administration, or management of the Internet.
• While this is generally true, there are several well-known organizations that work together in a
relatively well structured and roughly democratic environment to collectively participate in the
research, development, and management of the Internet.
• Inter-relationships between these organizations are shown in the chart given below:
• The ISOC oversees the other Internet management organizations and, in some cases, provides
financial and other support.
• It also holds an annual International Networking conference, and coordinates Internet related
public policy and trade activities, regional and local chapters, standardization activities, and an
international secretariat.
• In June, 1992, the Internet Activities Board was termed the Internet Architecture Board by the
Internet Society.
• The roles and responsibilities of the IAB are: Provide oversight of the Internet architecture,
protocols, procedures, and standards, RFC (Request for Comment) management, IESG
(Internet Engineering Steering Group) selection, IETF oversight etc.
• The IETF studies operational and technical problems with the Internet, specifies protocols and
architectural solutions, and values recommendations to its steering committee.
• Each area has one or two directors. Area director considers a problem important enough to merit
concern, the IETE sets up a working group for further investigation.
• Every device attached in the internet must be identifiable uniquely. For this, we need to provide
addresses to the devices attached in the internet.
• There are two types of addresses in the internet: IP Address and Domain Names.
IP Address
• An IP address is a numbered address provided to computers and other devices attached to the
internet to identify them uniquely.
• Two versions of the Internet Protocol (IP) are in use IP Version 4 and IP Version 6. Each version
defines an IP address differently.
• Because of its prevalence, the generic term IP address typically still refers to the addresses defined
by IPV4.
• IP address can also be classified as private IP address or Public IP address.
• An IP address that can be accessed over the Internet is called public IP address. We need to pay
for public IP addresses.
• On the other hand, a private IP address is any number or address assigned to a device on a private
TCP/IP Local Area Network that is accessible only within the Local Area Network. It is available
free of cost.
• IPV4 address consists of 32 bits and often shown as 4 octets of numbers from 0-255 represented
in decimal. For example, the IP address: 168.212.226.204
• Every IP address has two parts, one identifying the network and one identifying the node, or
host.
• The Class of the address determines which part belongs to the network address and which part
belongs to the host address.
• A new Internet addressing system Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is being deployed to fulfill the
need for more Internet addresses.
• IPv6 addresses are 128-bit IP address written in hexadecimal and separated by colons. An example
IPv6 address could be written like this 3ff8:1900:4543:0200:f8ff:fe21:67cf:ab45
• With IPV6 we can have up to 2^128 addresses. This is deemed sufficient for the foreseeable
future.
• It is the successor to Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4). It was designed as an evolutionary upgrade
to the Internet Protocol and will, in fact, coexist with the older IPv4 for some time.
• IPv6 is designed to allow the Internet to grow steadily, both in terms of the number of hosts
connected and the total amount of data traffic transmitted.
Domain Names
• IP addresses are difficult to remember. Domain Names are named addressed provided to the
devices attached to the network. For example, www.google.com is an example of domain name.
• Name server contains the DNS database. This database comprises of various names and their
corresponding IP addresses.
• Since it is not possible for a single server to maintain entire DNS database, therefore, the
information is distributed among many DNS servers. Hierarchy of server is same as hierarchy of
names.
Working of DNS
• User program requests IP address for a domain name Resolver module in local computer or ISP
formulates query for local name server.
• Local name server checks DNS database and cache, if found returns IP address to the requestor.
If not found, queries name servers at next hop.
• When response is received, local name server stores the name/address mapping in local cache.
User program receives IP address or error message
Internet Services
• Internet Services allows us to access huge amount of information such as text, graphics, sound
and software over the internet.
• Some of the services provided by internet are: World Wide Web (WWW), Information Retrieval
Services, Communication Services, and Web Services.
• It Involves browsing and information retrieval, and provide customers the ability to find, view,
download, and process information. Some of information retrieval services provided by internet
are:
o File Transfer Protocol (FTP): FTP is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol. It is used to
transfer files between computers over the network or Internet. It is commonly used to
download a file from a server or to upload a file to a server by using internet.
o Archie: It's updated database of public FTP sites and their content. It helps to search a file
by its name.
o Gophers: Gophers are tools that are used to search, retrieve, and display documents on
remote sites.
o Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS): WAIS is a client server text searching system. It is
used to search indexed databases or remote servers.
Communication Services
• There are various Communication Services available that offer exchange of information with
individuals or groups.
• Some of these services are:
o Electronic Mail: Email is used to send electronic message over the internet
o Telnet: It is used to log on to a remote computer that is attached to internet
o Newsgroup: Offers a forum for people to discuss topics of common interests
Web Services
• Web services allow exchange of information between applications on the web. Using web
services, applications can easily interact with each other.
• Web services allow different applications from different sources to communicate with each other
without time-consuming custom coding.
• Web services are not tied to any one operating system or programming language. For example,
Java can talk with Perl, Windows applications can talk with UNIX applications,
Intranet
• An intranet is an internal private network based on internet and World Wide Web (WWW)
technology and standards.
• Intranets are restricted to the internal members of an organization.
• Access to intranets is controlled through the use of usernames, passwords and firewalls, which
are security software programs that keep users that are members of the organization out of the
network.
• Intranet also uses TCP/IP protocol as internet for communication.
• Architecture of intranet is shown in the figure below:
• Intranet provides network infrastructure for intra-business activities and plays vital role to
strengthen the organizational work which are listed below:
Extranet
• An extranet is the internal private network where limited numbers of outsiders are gives access
to the intranet.
• Like intranet, extranet is also based on internet and World Wide Web (WWW) technology and
standards and uses TCP/IP protocol for communication.
• Access to intranets is controlled through the use of usernames, passwords and firewalls, which
are security software programs that keep users that are not members of the organization out of
the network.
• The beauty of intranets and extranets is that they don't require any special software or hardware
other than what we would use for the Internet.
• Extranets are becoming very popular as a way for companies to get information to customers,
suppliers and business partners quickly and efficiently.
• It's much less costly to put the information on the extranet and it's faster to update the
information than to have to print and send out paper updates.
• Some companies are using extranets to replace EDI systems. Smaller companies that couldn't
afford the cost of EDI are using extranets as a way to allow product ordering and shipment
tracking.
Software Agents
• A software agent is a persistent, goal-oriented, and intelligent computer program that reacts to
its environment and runs without continuous direct supervision to perform some function for an
end user or another program.
• Some, but not all, software agents have Uls (user interfaces). Here the term persistent refers that
the program can outlive its creator process.
• Typical tasks that are performed by software agent includes locating and retrieving information,
filtering electronic mails, scheduling appointments etc.
• Individuals are capable of handling these routine tasks and have been doing so far for years, but
intelligent agent technology held the promise of easing the burdens on users by automating such
tasks.
• Software agents are different from conventional programs in the sense that software agents work
with goals in mind while conventional programs execute directives stored in memory.
• Typical application scenarios where software agents show superiority over conventional software
systems are as follows:
o Managing the Information Overload: Software agents are useful for filtering and sorting
the input data such that is easy to find and analyze required data for managers.
o Decision Making Support: Software agents help knowledge workers such as managers,
doctors, lawyers etc. in decision making by coordinating and interacting with expert
systems.
o Repetitive office Activity: Using software agent to do such type of works reduces labor
cost hence increases business productivity.
o Doing Mundane Personal Activities: Agents are useful for performing routine personal
activities such as booking and purchasing tickets.
o Domain Experts: Software agents are suitable to model costly expertise and make it
widely available. Example of expert software agents could be models of real-world agents
such as translators, lawyers, diplomats etc.
• Autonomous: Once launched, it must be able to work independently without guidance of its
creator or owner.
• Learning: Agents must have capacity to learn from environment in which it is running.
• Reasoning: Agents must have capacity of making rule-based reasoning in changing environment
and needs to learn from that reasoning.
• Cooperation: Agents must be able to interact with other agents that are working with same or
similar problems.
While writing program to develop software agents, programmer needs to include certain essential
components. Every agent must have following components:
• Owner: Agent can have owners. By having this information, one knows to whom to refer if there
is any problem.
• Author: It is name that has developed the agent. By having this information, one knows to whom
to refer if upgrade is required.
• Lifetime: It defined time to alive for the agent. If lifetime is known the agent can be killed after it
has finished its mission so the no more bandwidth is consumed.
• Account: It is linked to owner's account. With this information, is easy to bill owners and pay for
the service.
• Goal: It represents the measure for success. Measures for success may include completion of
transaction within the boundaries of stated goal.
• Background: It includes all supporting information. The information should be in the form that
agent understands.
• It is called asymmetric because frequency band allocated for upstream and downstream is not
equal. Normally frequency band from 25 KHz to200 KHz is reserved for upstream and frequency
band above 250 KHz is reserved for downstream.
• The frequency band between 200 KHz to 250 KHz acts and guard band so that two frequencies do
not interfere with each other.
• On the other hand, SDSL is called symmetric because it supports the same data rates for upstream
and downstream traffic. Otherwise, it is similar to asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL).
• Wi-Fi is designed for communication between devices such as computers, printers and scanners.
• It is typically used to setup private wireless networks in home or office, allowing us to move our
PC or laptop while still having access to the internet and our printer and other devices.
• Wi-Fi is based on IEEE 802.11x standard and used radio waves for communication. Therefore, it
does not request line of sight (LOS) communication.
• It transmits unlicensed spectrum of 24 GHz and operates in low frequency area of UHF (Ultra high
frequency) in a point to multipoint fashion.
• Radio Signals are the keys, which make Wi-Fi networking possible. These radio signals transmitted
from Wi-Fi antennas are picked up by Wi-Fi receivers, such as computers and cell phones that are
equipped with Wi-Fi cards.
• Whenever, a computer receives any of the signals within the range of a Wi-Fi network, which is
usually 300 - 500 feet for antennas, the Wi-Fi card reads the signals and thus creates an internet
connection between the user and the network.
• Access points, consisting of antennas and routers, are the main source that transmit and receive
radio waves.
• Antennas work stronger and have a longer radio transmission with a radius of 300-500 feet, which
are used in public areas while the weaker yet effective router is more suitable for homes with a
radio transmission of 100-150 feet.
• Wi-Fi cards can be external or internal. If a Wi-Fi card is not installed in your computer, then you
may purchase a USB antenna attachment and have it externally connected to your USB port.
• Wi-Fi hotspots are premises such as airports, and restaurants which have set up local Wi-Fi
connectivity to the internet.
• The largest public Wi-Fi networks are provided by private internet service providers (ISPs); they
charge a fee to the users who want to access the internet.
• A wireless wide area network (WWAN) is a specific type of network that sends wireless signals
beyond a single building or property.
• GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communication and is a second-generation mobile
telephony system.
• It is a digital cellular technology used for transmitting mobile voice and data services. It is the most
widely accepted standard in telecommunications and it is implemented globally.
• GSM is a circuit-switched system that divides each 200 kHz channel into eight 25 kHz time-slots.
• GSM operates on the mobile communication bands 900 MHz and 1800 MHz in most parts of the
world. In the US, GSM operates in the bands 850 MHz and 1900 MHz.
• GSM makes use of narrowband Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) technique for transmitting
signals. It was developed using digital technology and has an ability to carry 64 kbps to 120 Mbps
of data rates.
• Presently GSM supports more than one billion mobile subscribers in more than 210 countries
throughout the world.
• GSM provides basic to advanced voice and data services including roaming service. Roaming is
the ability to use our GSM phone number in another GSM network.
• GSM phones use a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) smart card that contains user account
information. Any GSM phone becomes immediately programmed after plugging in the SIM card.
• GSM includes the short messaging service (SMS) that enables users to send 160-character text
messages to each other.
• GSM contains four basic elements: Mobile Station, Base Transceiver Station, Base Station
Controller, and mobile switching Center.
General Packet Radio (GPRS) is a third-generation step toward Internet access. GPRS is also known as
GSM-IP that is a Global-System Mobile Communications Internet Protocol as it keeps the users of this
system online, allows to make voice calls, and access internet on-the-go.
• Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a digital cellular technology used for mobile
communication CDMA cellular systems are deemed superior to frequency division multiple access
(EDMA) and time division multiple access (TDMA), which is why CDMA plays a critical role in
building efficient, robust, and secure radio communication systems.
Wi-Max
• Wi-Max is acronym for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access and is based on Wireless
MAN technology.
• It is a wireless technology optimized for the delivery of IP centric services over a wide area.
• Wi-Max is one of the hottest broadband wireless technologies around today. It also uses radio
waves to transmit signals.
• Wi-Max systems are expected to deliver broadband access services to residential and enterprise
customers in an economical way.
• Loosely, Wi-Max is a standardized wireless version of Ethernet intended primarily as an
alternative to wire technologies (such as Cable Modems, DSL) to provide broadband access to
customer premises.
• Wi-Max would operate similar to Wi-Fi, but at higher speeds over greater distances and for a
greater number of users.
• Wi-Max has the ability to provide service even in areas that are difficult for wired infrastructure
to reach and the ability to overcome the physical limitations of traditional wired infrastructure.
• Wi-Max can offer up to about 40 Mbps capacity per wireless channel for both fixed and portable
applications which is enough to support hundreds of businesses and thousands of Residences.
• Wi-Max can support voice and video as well as Internet data. Wi-Max developed to provide
wireless broadband access to buildings, either in competition to existing wired networks or alone
• Wi-Max is similar to the wireless standard known as Wi-Fi, but on a much larger scale and at faster
speeds.
• Wi-Max-enabled devices connected over large areas, much like today's cell phones.
• We can compare it with Wi-Fi based on the following factors.
o IEEE Standards: Wi-Fi is based on IEEE 802.11 standard whereas Wi-Max is based on IEEE
802.16.
o Range: Wi-Fi typically provides local network access for a few hundred feet with the speed
of up to 54 Mbps. A single Wi-Max antenna is expected to have a range of up to 40 miles
with the speed of 70 Mbps or more.
o Scalability: Wi-Fi is intended for LAN applications, users scale from one to tens with one
subscriber for each CPE device. Wi-Max is designed to efficiently support from one to
hundreds of Consumer premises equipments (CPE), with unlimited subscribers behind
each CPE Flexible channel sizes from 1.5MHz to 20MHz.
o Bit Rate: Wi-Fi works at 2.7 bps/Hz and can peak up to 54 Mbps in 20 MHz channel
whereas Wi-Max works at 5 bps/Hz and can peak up to 100 Mbps in a 20 MHz channel.
o Quality of Service: Wi-Fi does not guarantee any QoS but Wi-Max will provide several
levels of QoS.
• UMTS is an umbrella term that encompasses the third generation (3G) radio technologies
developed by the SGPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project).
• These 3G Systems are intended to provide a global mobility with wide range of services including
telephony, messaging, Internet and broadband data.
• It is the third-generation successor to the second-generation GSM based cellular technologies
which also include GPRS.
• An acronym for Long Term Evolution, LTE is a 4G wireless communications standard developed
by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) that's designed to provide up to 10x the speeds
of 3G networks for mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, notebooks etc.
• Long Term Evolution (LTE) refers to a standard for smooth and efficient transition toward more
advanced leading-edge technologies to increase the capacity and speed of wireless data
networks.
• 4G technologies are designed to provide IP-based voice, data and multimedia streaming at speeds
of at least 100 Mbit per second and up to as fast as 1 Gbit per second.
• LTE features include higher download rates approaching 300 mbps and upload rates of 75 mbps,
expanding cell capacity to accommodate 200 active users and supporting fast moving mobiles.
• LTE is referred to as the next generation network beyond 3G, with the capacity to support a high
demand for connectivity from new consumer devices tailored to new mobile applications.
• In an LTE live air demo, Web browsing, HD video, and telecommunications are demonstrated
simultaneously inside a single computer moving within a vehicle at 108 kilometers per hour.
Bluetooth
• Bluetooth is a global wireless communication standard that connects devices together over a
certain distance.