Prof. Raimo Kantola
Networking Laboratory 4.01.2001
S38.001 Telecommunications Forum-2000
Possible questions on the book "Telecommunications Convergence"
by Steven Shepard
- Describe briefly (max in 5 sentences) the following technologies:
- BRI, PRI
- AO/DI
- H0, H10, H11, H12
- ACD
- PCM, ADPCM
- CVSD
- LPC
- FDM vs TDM – why is TDM better?
- Give a brief history and description of the current state of the CATV industry in the US.
- Give a brief description of a typical CATV network in US.
- Describe the development of CATV networks and services during 1990's in the US.
- Compare traditional CATV and PSTN networks in terms of competitive advantages and weaknesses.
- Describe a typical CATV Internet Service offering in the US.
- Define briefly ( 1… 3 facts/case) the following:
- ADSL
- DMT and CAP in ADSL
- G.lite
- VDSL
- RADSL
- HDSL
- DSLAM
- Describe the competiteve offerings from ILECs, CLECs, CATV etc and alliances among the players in broadband Internet Services in the US.
- Describe the IAD functionality and discuss how IAD changes the business landscape.
- Describe the LMDS technology and give its position on the market.
- Compare data and voice in terms of transport volumes and service business revenues.
- Define briefly the following: DS0, DS-1, DS-3.
- Define briefly the following: OC-1, OC-3, OC-12, OC-48, OC-192.
- Describe briefly APS in SONET.
- What does EDFA do? What does Bragg Grating Filter do? Describe the business case for WDM.
- What are the fundamental disadvantages of point-to-point services (cmp to switched services)?
- Describe the Frame Relay service. Compare to ATM.
- Advantages and disadvantages of ATM.
- Why is IP a compelling network technology for Service Providers?
- Give some and discuss the predictions on e-commerce development.
- Compare business landscape in industrial age vs now.
- What is Enterprise Resource Planning and why is it important for the operators?
- Explain alternative corporate models?
- Briefly describe the camps of corporations (2…4 facts/attributes/camp) on the communications market in the US.
- What are the forces having most impact on the competitive landscape on the US communications market?
- Describe QoS from customer point of view and from service provider's point of view.
- Describe the Internet Integrated Services approach to QoS.
- Describe the Differentiated Services approach to QoS.
- How does AIN work? What are the drawbacks of the AIN architecture?
- What are the advantages and the drawbacks of ATM in providing QoS for Internet services?
- How does Assured Quality Routing work?
- Describe how LANs can support QoS.
- Describe briefly (3…5 facts/case) signalling alternatives for VOIP. What are the industry trends in this area?
- Describe the reasons that are driving the development of VOIP according to the author. Do you agree with him?
- What challenges are facing VOIP development?
- Describe the potential of IP based call centers.
- List and define 10 of the 16 characteristics affecting network development at the moment.