Communications Basics

Communications Basics

Common Carriers: Inter exchange carriers, local exchange carriers, competitive local exchange carriers.

Local loop(regulated in the past-now deregulated with the Telecom Act of 1996).

Federal communications commission(FCC)

Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN)

Plain old Telephone service (POTS)

Circuit Swithching

Dedicated communications path established for the duration of the conversation

E.G. telephone network


Packet Switching

Small chunks(packets) of data at a time

Packets passed from node to node between source and destination

Used for terminal to computer and computer to computer communications