Ethernet - a survey on its fields of application

During the last decades, Ethernet progressively became the most widely used local area networking (LAN) technology. Apart from LAN installations, Ethernet became also attractive for many other fields of application, ranging from industry to avionics, telecommunication, and multimedia. The expanded application of this technology is mainly due to its significant assets like reduced cost, backward-compatibility, flexibility, and expandability. However, this new trend raises some problems concerning the services of the protocol and the requirements for each application. Therefore, specific adaptations prove essential to integrate this communication technology in each field of application. Our primary objective is to show how Ethernet has been enhanced to comply with the specific requirements of several application fields, particularly in transport, embedded and multimedia contexts. The paper first describes the common Ethernet LAN technology and highlights its main features. It reviews the most important specific Ethernet versions with respect to each application field’s requirements. Finally, we compare these different fields of application and we particularly focus on the fundamental concepts and the quality of service capabilities of each proposal

Benchmarking and viability assessment of optical packet switching for metro networks

Optical packet switching (OPS) has been proposed as a strong candidate for future metro networks. This paper assesses the viability of an OPS-based ring architecture as proposed within the research project DAVID (Data And Voice Integration on DWDM), funded by the European Commission through the Information Society Technologies (IST) framework. Its feasibility is discussed from a physical-layer point of view, and its limitations in size are explored. Through dimensioning studies, we show that the proposed OPS architecture is competitive with respect to alternative metropolitan area network (MAN) approaches, including synchronous digital hierarchy, resilient packet rings (RPR), and star-based Ethernet. Finally, the proposed OPS architectures are discussed from a logical performance point of view, and a high-quality scheduling algorithm to control the packet-switching operations in the rings is explained

Future of asynchronous transfer mode networking

The growth of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) was considered to be the ideal carrier of the high bandwidth applications like video on demand and multimedia e-learning. ATM emerged commercially in the beginning of the 1990\u27s. It was designed to provide a different quality of service at a speed up 100 Gbps for both real time and non real time application. The turn of the 90\u27s saw a variety of technologies being developed. This project analyzes these technologies, compares them to the Asynchronous Transfer Mode and assesses the future of ATM

A Survey of Clock Synchronization Over Packet-Switched Networks

Clock synchronization is a prerequisite for the realization of emerging applications in various domains such as industrial automation and the intelligent power grid. This paper surveys the standardized protocols and technologies for providing synchronization of devices connected by packet-switched networks. A review of synchronization impairments and the state-of-the-art mechanisms to improve the synchronization accuracy is then presented. Providing microsecond to sub-microsecond synchronization accuracy under the presence of asymmetric delays in a cost-effective manner is a challenging problem, and still an open issue in many application scenarios. Further, security is of significant importance for systems where timing is critical. The security threats and solutions to protect exchanged synchronization messages are also discussed

Tarkan ja luotettavan ajan siirto kantaverkossa

This master’s thesis is about time distribution that supports substation applications needed for power transmission. The work was done for the Telecommunication department of Finland’s power transmission system operator Fingrid Oyj. This thesis answers to the following question: What is the need for accurate and synchronized time in power substations and how it will be delivered? Fingrid’s telecommunication network supports the power transmission grid and its operation. Telecommunication network can distribute time to power substations for the applications that need synchronized and accurate time. Current telecommunication equipment used in Fingrid is getting old and new techniques are planned to be implemented. When Fingrid is acquiring new communication equipment, they need to set requirements on the capability to distribute time. This thesis is an initial effort to investigate time distribution requirements for Fingrid’s needs. This thesis aids Fingrid Telecommunication department to define requirements for time distribution. For this thesis, I met with multiple Fingrid professionals, telecommunication device suppliers and time distribution researchers. This thesis answers to its research questions by means of a literature review and interviews.Tämä diplomityö käsittelee ajansiirron vaikutusta sähköasemasovellusten toimintaan. Työ tehtiin Suomen kantaverkkoyhtiö Fingrid Oyj:n tietoliikenneyksikölle. Fingridin tietoliikenneverkko on osa kantaverkkoa ja mahdollistaa sähköjärjestelmän toiminteita. Tietoliikenneverkon yksi palvelu on synkronoidun ajan siirtäminen sähköasemille. Nykyinen tietoliikennetekniikka on vanhenemassa ja uutta laitteistoa suunnitellaan hankittavaksi ja testattavaksi. Tämän diplomityön tarkoitus on selvittää mikä on järkevä tapa toteuttaa ajan siirto ja kuinka tarkkaa sen pitää olla. Työ auttaa tietoliikenneyksikköä hankinnan vaatimusmäärittelyssä ajansiirron osalta. Työtä varten on tavattu monia Fingridin asiantuntijoita, tietoliikennelaitetoimittajia sekä ajansiirron asiantuntijoita. Työ vastaa tutkimuskysymykseen kirjallisuuskatsauksen ja haastattelujen perusteella

Network Latency and Packet Delay Variation in Cyber-physical Systems

The problem addressed in this paper is the limitation imposed by network elements, especially Ethernet elements, on the real-time performance of time-critical systems. Most current network elements are concerned only with data integrity, connection, and throughput with no mechanism for enforcing temporal semantics. Existing safety-critical applications and other applications in industry require varying degrees of control over system-wide temporal semantics. In addition, there are emerging commercial applications that require or will benefit from tighter enforcement of temporal semantics in network elements than is currently possible. This paper examines these applications and requirements and suggests possible approaches to imposing temporal semantics on networks. Model-based design and simulation is used to evaluate the effects of network limitations on time-critical systems

Performance study of voice over frame relay : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Information Engineering, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Frame Relay (FR) represents an important paradigm shift in modern telecommunication. This technology is beginning to evolve from data only application to broad spectrum of multimedia users and potential to provide end users with cost effective transport of voice traffic for intra office communication. In this project the recent development in voice communication over Frame relay is investigated. Simulations were carried out using OPNET, a powerful simulation software. Following the simulation model, a practical design of the LAN-to-LAN connectivity experiment was also done in the Net Lab. From the results of the simulation, Performance measures such as delay, jitter, and throughput are reported. It is evident from the results that real-time voice or video across a frame relay network can provide acceptable performance

Architecture, design, and modeling of the OPSnet asynchronous optical packet switching node

An all-optical packet-switched network supporting multiple services represents a long-term goal for network operators and service providers alike. The EPSRC-funded OPSnet project partnership addresses this issue from device through to network architecture perspectives with the key objective of the design, development, and demonstration of a fully operational asynchronous optical packet switch (OPS) suitable for 100 Gb/s dense-wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) operation. The OPS is built around a novel buffer and control architecture that has been shown to be highly flexible and to offer the promise of fair and consistent packet delivery at high load conditions with full support for quality of service (QoS) based on differentiated services over generalized multiprotocol label switching

Power consumption modeling in optical multilayer networks

The evaluation of and reduction in energy consumption of backbone telecommunication networks has been a popular subject of academic research for the last decade. A critical parameter in these studies is the power consumption of the individual network devices. It appears that across different studies, a wide range of power values for similar equipment is used. This is a result of the scattered and limited availability of power values for optical multilayer network equipment. We propose reference power consumption values for Internet protocol/multiprotocol label switching, Ethernet, optical transport networking and wavelength division multiplexing equipment. In addition we present a simplified analytical power consumption model that can be used for large networks where simulation is computationally expensive or unfeasible. For illustration and evaluation purpose, we apply both calculation approaches to a case study, which includes an optical bypass scenario. Our results show that the analytical model approximates the simulation result to over 90% or higher and that optical bypass potentially can save up to 50% of power over a non-bypass scenario