Course 101: Broadband, Telecom, Datacom and Networking for Non‑Engineers

Broadband, Telecom, Datacom and Networking for Non-Engineers is our core training, the knowledge set needed by anyone serious in telecom today.

Our philosophy is: start at the beginning. Understand the fundamental ideas. Understand mainstream technologies that implement these ideas. Learn the acronyms, abbreviations and jargon. Get an unbiased big-picture view that will give you the knowledge you need to ask the right questions, make meaningful comparisons and informed decisions.

Our goal is to eliminate frustration, increase confidence, accuracy and productivity by building a solid vendor-independent knowledge base that has both immediate and long-term value.

This updated outline is effective January 1 2020.

Part 1: Fundamentals

The first part of Course 101 is six chapters that cover the fundamentals of telecom, filling gaps, explaining concepts and establishing a solid knowledge base. First is a high-level pass with a big-picture view and introducing all of the course topics. Then we progress in a logical order: how telecom circuits are provisioned by carriers, telecom fundamentals, followed by IP packet network fundamentals. Then you'll learn about the Internet as a business: ISPs, web services like AWS, cloud computing and data centers. We'll review today's services in the residential, business and wholesale categories. The fundamentals are completed with digital media: how voice is digitized, digital video, digital images, digital quantities and digital text.

What you will learn

• Today's broadband converged IP telecom network
• Telecom fundamentals: pulses, modems, multiplexing
• Network fundamentals: IP packets and MAC frames
• The Internet, ISPs and Net neutrality, Web Services, Cloud Computing, Data Centers
• Residential, Business and Wholesale Services
• Digital Media: digital voice, video, images, data, text

1. Introduction to Telecommunications

We begin with a comprehensive big-picture introduction to broadband telecom: the concepts of convergence and broadband, today's telecom network, the parts of the network, the three key technologies: Ethernet, IP and MPLS, what they are and what each does. You'll learn how a circuit is implemented end-to-end, and identify today's standard residential, business and wholesale services.

1. History of Telecommunications
2. Convergence
3. Broadband
4. Today's Telecom Network
5. Network Core
6. Ethernet, IP and MPLS
7. Anatomy of a Service
8. Inside the Network Cloud
9. Network Edge Equipment
10. Interconnect to Other Carriers
11. Residential, Business and Wholesale Services

2. Telecom Fundamentals

Next, we'll ensure you have a solid foundation in the fundamental ideas of telecom: the elements of a circuit; terminals, clients, servers and peers; how bits are represented on fiber with pulses; and how bits are represented with modems on wireless, cable TV and DSL. Then we'll understand how capacity is shared to carry many users' traffic on common facilities: Frequency Division Multiplexing, Time Division Multiplexing, overbooking and Bandwidth on Demand.

1. Communication Circuit Model
2. Terminals, Clients, Servers and Peers
3. Representing Bits on Digital Circuits: Pulses
4. Representing Bits in Frequency Channels: Modems
5. Serial and Parallel
6. Sharing: Frequency-Division Multiplexing
7. Sharing: Channelized Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)
8. Efficient Sharing: Statistical Time Division Multiplexing
9. Overbooking and Bandwidth on Demand

3. Network Fundamentals

In this chapter, we'll ensure you also have a solid foundation in the fundamentals and jargon of the network. Today's converged telecom network is based on what used to be called "data communications": packets in frames. Without bogging down on details, we'll review basic circuit configurations, understand how routers relay packets from one circuit to another, and how the packets are actually transmitted from one device to another in frames. You'll fill gaps and get up to speed on IP packets, MAC frames and MPLS labels, what each is for and how they work together.

1. Data Links – Unbalanced: PONs, CATV, Wi-Fi, CAN-BUS
2. Data Links – Balanced: LANs and Ethernet
3. Frames & MAC Addresses
4. Networks
5. Packets, IP Addresses and Routers
6. IP Packets vs. MAC Frames
7. IP Packets
8. MPLS Labels

4. The Internet, Cloud Computing and Data Centers

The Internet, which started out as a way to send text email messages, is now worldwide converged broadband communications. In this chapter, we'll understand what exactly an Internet Service Provider does, and how they get packets delivered world-wide. We'll review web clients, browsers and apps, web servers, then understand the huge business of web services, cloud computing and data centers.

1. A Network to Survive Nuclear War
2. The Inter-Net Protocol
3. Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
4. Domain Name System (DNS)
5. Web Clients: Browsers and Apps
6. Web Servers: HTTP, HTTPS, HTML
7. Web Services
8. Cloud Computing and AWS
9. Data Centers
10. Net Neutrality

5. Telecom Services

No foundation in telecom would be complete without understanding where the money is: services with recurring billing. We'll organize services into Residential, Business and Wholesale, and identify today's standard choices and offerings in each area. We'll cover Broadband Internet for residences, plus Internet VoIP with PSTN phone number, and streaming video; in the business category VPNs, SIP trunking, PRI and Centrex; and wholesale services dark fiber, wavelengths, Carrier Ethernet and IP transit.

1. Residential
• Broadband Internet
• POTS & PSTN Phone Calls
• VoIP Internet Telephone Service
• "Basic Cable" and Video on Demand
2. Business
• Internet with Security, DNS
• "MPLS Services" and MPLS VPNs
• Internet VPNs and SD-WAN
• Centrex
• SIP Trunking, PRI & PBX Trunking
3. Wholesale
• Bulk: Dark Fiber, Wavelengths, Carrier Ethernet
• Software-Defined Network (SDN)
• Internet Transit
• Content Delivery Networks (CDN)

6. Digital Media: Voice, Video, Images, Quantities, Text

The converged network carries all media: voice, video, text and images in packets. An essential first step is digitizing the media, representing it using 1s and 0s, to be carried in said packets. We'll understand how voice is digitized and reconstructed, and the G.711 64 kb/s standard. The same principles apply to images and video in formats like jpg and mp4 video. We'll review binary and hexadecimal, and finish with unicode for text and emojis.

1. Analog and Digital: What Do We Really Mean?
2. Continuous Signals, Discrete Signals
3. Voice Digitization (Analog → Digital Conversion)
4. Voice Reconstruction (Digital → Analog Conversion)
5. Digital Voice: 64kb/s G.711 Standard
6. Digital Video: H.264 / MP4, HD, 4K
7. Digital Images: JPG, GIF, PNG
8. Digital Images in Emails: MIME
9. Digital Quantities: Binary and Hex
10. Digital Text: ASCII and Unicode

Part 2: Telecom Technologies

In the second part of the course, we explore the three main technologies for transmitting information from one place to another, grouped into wireless, fiber and copper. We'll cover wireless spectrum, mobile network components and operation, 4G LTE, 5G, fixed wireless broadband home internet, Wi-Fi and satellites. Then you'll learn optical basics, and how networks are built with point-to-point fibers running Optical Ethernet, wave-division multiplexing, fiber in the core, metro and to the premise. We'll finish with copper-wire technologies: DSL and POTS on twisted pair, Hybrid Fiber-Coax cable TV systems, T1 and the categories of LAN cables.

What you will learn

• Wireless: Cellular, 4G, 5G, Mobile Internet, Wi-Fi, Satellite, 3.5 GHz Broadband Home Internet
• Fiber: fundamentals, WDM, Optical Ethernet, PONs
• Copper: POTS, DSL, Cable Modems, T1, LAN cables

7. Wireless

In this chapter, you will learn all about wireless transmission. We'll identify the components and basic principles of operation of a mobile network. You'll understand the requirements for coverage, capacity and mobility, and why cellular radio systems are used. You'll learn how mobile to PSTN phone calls are connected, how mobile Internet works, roaming and virtual operators. You'll learn about 4G LTE and 5G for mobile, and fixed wireless broadband internet. We'll cover Wi-Fi and the latest 802.11ax standard, and finish with satellite communications.

1. Radio Fundamentals
2. Spectrum
3. Mobile Network Components and Operation
• Towers
• Transceivers
• Backhaul
• Mobile Switches & MTSOs
4. Cellular and Handoffs
5. PSTN Phone Calls using the Phone App ("Voice Minutes")
6. Mobile Internet ("Data Plan")
7. Broadband Delivery: Cellular + Wi-Fi
8. Mobile Operators, MVNOs and Roaming
9. Spectrum-Sharing: FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, OFDM
10. 4G LTE
11. 5G New Radio (NR)
12. 3.5 GHz Fixed Wireless Broadband Home Internet
13. Wi-Fi: Wireless LANs & 802.11 Standards
14. LEO and GEO Satellite

8. Fiber Optics

The core of the converged network is routers connected point-to-point to other routers with fiber. Telephone companies that used to pull copper access wires to every home in a suburb are investing to pull an access fiber to every home. In this chapter, we'll cover the basics of fiber, the makeup of fiber cables, wavelengths and WDM. You'll understand how Optical Ethernet is used to actually implement the fiber connections, and how OE is used in the core, in metro areas, and fiber to the premise via Passive Optical Networks (PONs).

1. Fiber Basics
2. Fiber Optics and Fiber Cables
3. Optical Wavelengths, Bands and Modes
4. Wave-Division Multiplexing: CWDM and DWDM
5. Optical Ethernet
6. The Network Core
7. Metropolitan Area Networks
8. Fiber to the Premise (FTTP, FTTH): PONs and Optical Ethernet

9. Copper

Before wireless and fiber, two copper wires were used as the physical access circuit for telephone and cable TV service in suburbs and cities. Today, these wires are used to deliver broadband. In this chapter, we'll understand how DSL broadband service runs on twisted pairs put in place for analog POTS telephone service; how cable modems move broadband on coaxial cable; and how both are delivered as fiber to the neighborhood then copper to the premise. To finish up, we'll review digital on copper wires: LAN cables and T1s.

1. Twisted Pair Loops
• The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
• Analog Circuits
• The Voiceband
• Plain Ordinary Telephone Service (POTS)
• DTMF
• DSL, DSLAMs and VDSL2
• Fiber to the Node + DSL to the Premise
2. Hybrid Fiber-Coax
• CATV: Fiber to the Node + Coax to the Premise
• Cable Modems
• DOCSIS
3. T1 and E1
4. LAN Cables and Categories

Part 3: Equipment, Carriers and Interconnect

In the third part of the course, we explore the equipment that is connected by the fiber, copper and wireless of Part 2 to form networks, and the place and purpose of each. Then we understand where and how connections physically take place for PSTN phone calls, for Internet traffic and CLEC services.

What you will learn

• Core Routers and Layer 2 Switches
• CO Switches & PBXs vs. Softswitches, Gateways
• Internet Exchanges
• Switched Access, POPs, CLECs

10. Telecom Equipment

In this chapter, we review the different types of telecom equipment, beginning with the essentials of the broadband telecom network: Ethernet switches and IP/MPLS routers, comparing costs and capabilities. Then, we'll review the different types of customer premise equipment for broadband. To explain soft switches, call managers and SIP servers, we'll begin with legacy CO switches and PBXs to see the fundamental differences. Gateways and how they convert packets to channels completes the chapter.

1. Broadband Network Equipment: Routers and Ethernet Switches
2. Broadband Customer Premise Equipment
3. CO Switches, PBXs and Remotes
4. Soft Switches, Call Managers and SIP Servers
5. Gateways

11. Carriers and Interconnect

To allow communications between customers of different carriers, the carriers must implement physical connections between their networks. In this chapter, you'll learn how the Internet is actually implemented, with peering and transit agreements at Internet Exchange buildings. You will also learn about POPs in toll centers: how and where local exchange service providers: ILEC, mobile providers and CATV connect together and to other carriers for phone calls with a PSTN phone number; and SS7 to set up the calls. We'll finish by understanding where a CLEC fits into the picture with equipment collocated in wire centers.

1. IX: Interconnect for Internet Traffic
2. Toll Center: Interconnect for PSTN Telephone Calls
3. Implementing Long-Distance Competition: LECs and IXCs
4. Switched Access and POPs
5. Wireless and CATV Local Exchange Carriers
6. SS7
7. COs and Wire Centers
8. CLEC: Local Competition – Collocation plus ILEC Dark Fiber

Part 4: Networking

The fourth and final part of Course 101 is devoted to IP networking and MPLS. We begin with the OSI Reference Model and its layers to provide a structure for the discussion: what a layer is, what the layers are, the functions of each, and the standard protocols at each layer. Next is a chapter on Layer 2: Ethernet, 802 standards, broadcast domains and VLANs. Then, Layer 3: IP routers, IP addresses, DHCP, public and private addresses, Network Address Translation and IPv6. Chapter 15 covers the core traffic management system MPLS, and how MPLS is used to implement VPNs, classes of service, service integration and traffic aggregation. We'll conclude with a top-down review and roundup of technologies and a peek at the future of telecommunications.

What you will learn

• OSI Layers and Protocol Stacks
• Ethernet LANs, LAN switches and VLANs
• Routers, IP addresses, DHCP, public-private NAT
• IPv6 address types and allocation
• Carrier networks, SLAs, Class of Service
• MPLS for CoS, VPNs, integration and aggregation
• Practical solutions and project methodology

12. The OSI Layers and Protocol Stacks

There are so many functions that must be performed to interoperate systems, a structure is required to organize the functions so that separate issues can be treated separately. We'll begin the fourth part of the course with the most commonly-used structure, the ISO Open Systems Interconnection 7-Layer Reference Model. You'll learn what a layer is, the purpose of each layer, examples of protocols like TCP and IP used to implement layers, and gain a true understanding of how a protocol stack works for applications like web surfing and VoIP.

1. Protocols and Standards
2. ISO OSI Reference Model
3. OSI 7-Layer Model
4. Physical Layer: 802.3, DSL, DOCSIS
5. Data Link Layer: 802 MAC
6. Network Layer: IP and MPLS
7. Transport Layer: TCP and UDP
8. Session Layer: POP, SIP, HTTP
9. Presentation Layer: ASCII, Encryption, Codecs
10. Application Layer: SMTP, HTML, English …
11. Protocol Stack in Operation: Babushka Dolls
12. Standards Organizations

13. Ethernet, LANs and VLANs

Ethernet is now used in all parts of the network for point-to-point links between devices, implementing Layers 1 and 2 of the OSI model together. In this chapter, we'll review the basic principles of Ethernet and LANs, how it was formalized in the 802 series of standards, the concepts of MAC addresses, MAC frames and broadcast domains. You'll understand how LAN switches, also called Layer 2 switches, connect devices, and how VLANs separate devices as a basic network security function.

1. Broadcast Domains, MAC Frames and MAC Addresses
2. Ethernet and 802 standards
3. Ethernet / Layer 2 Switches
4. VLANs

14. IP Networks, Routers and Addresses

This chapter is devoted to IP, used to implement Layer 3. We begin with IP addressing: IPv4 address classes, subnets, DHCP, static and dynamic addresses, public addresses, private addresses and NAT. We use the simplest IP network to explore how routers implement the network by relaying packets from link to link, and also act as a point of control to deny communications based on IP address and/or port number. We'll complete the chapter with IPv6 addressing.

1. IPv4 Address Classes
2. Subnets: Prefix and Subnet Mask
3. DHCP, Static and Dynamic Addresses
4. Assigning Subnets to Broadcast Domains
5. IP Network: Routers and Routing Tables
6. Routers and Customer Edge (CE)
7. Public and Private IPv4 Addresses
8. Network Address Translation (NAT)
9. IPv6
10. IPv6 Address Allocation and Address Types

15. MPLS and Carrier Networks

IP packets will be used to carry everything, including phone calls and television. But IP in itself does not include any way to prioritize or manage traffic to guarantee call quality or picture quality. In the core of a carrier's network, MPLS is used to implement those functions. In this chapter, you'll learn the basics of carrier networks and the important concept of a Service Level Agreement. Then you'll gain a practical understanding of how MPLS works and how it is used by carriers to implement VPNs, different Classes of Service, service integration and traffic aggregation.

1. Carrier Packet Network Basics
2. Service Level Agreements and Class of Service (CoS)
3. Provider Equipment at the Customer Premise
4. Virtual Circuit Technologies
5. MPLS
6. MPLS VPNs for Business Customers
7. MPLS for Service Integration
8. MPLS and Diff-Serv to Support Classes of Service
9. MPLS for Traffic Aggregation

16. Wrapping Up Course 101

The final chapter brings all of the concepts together with a top-down review. You'll learn valuable insight into telecom project management and methodology, and review telecom, datacom and networking technologies, services and solutions. We'll conclude with a peek at the future of telecommunications, where the telephone network and Internet become the same thing.

1. Technology Deployment Steps
2. Requirements Analysis
3. High-Level Design
4. Review: Circuits and Services
5. Technology Roundup
6. Private Network
7. Carrier IP Services
8. The Future