PDF of this tutorialDefinition
In a telecommunications network, one begins at the terminal site at the customer premises; the access part of the process is the first mile. In essence, it is the part that connects the end user to the first piece of equipment in the network. Next comes the equipment that performs the connection of data or voice from one side to another, and then, finally, transmission may occur. Transmission is really the part of the process people take for granted when they casually draw a line to connect all of the pieces of equipment in the network.
Overview
This tutorial introduces key topics and new terminology with regard to transmission, focusing on the basic concepts necessary to study synchronous and optical transmission further. It will provide a more complete view of a telecommunications network, illustrating the access, switching, packet multiservice, synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH)/synchronous optical network (SONET), and optical layers. It will clarify the function performed by the SDH/SONET layer and what happens further down in the optical layer.
