Internet Protocol Version 6(IPv6)

Internet operates by transferring data between hosts in packets that are routed across networks as specified by routing protocols. These packets require an addressing scheme, such as IPv4 or IPv6, to specify their source and destination addresses. Each host, computer or other device on the Internet requires an IP address in order to communicate. The growth of the Internet has created a need for more addresses than are possible with IPv4.






Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is a version of the Internet Protocol (IP) intended to succeed Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4), which currently directs most Internet traffic, but is running out of addresses. IPv6 allows up to 2128 addresses, a massive increase from the 232 (about 4.3 billion) addresses possible with IPv4, and includes several other improvements. To gain the full benefits of IPv6, most hosts on the Internet, as well as the networks connecting them, will need to deploy this protocol—a difficult transition. While deployment of IPv6 is accelerating, especially in the Asia-Pacific region and some European countries, areas such as the Americas and Africa are comparatively lagging in deployment of IPv6.



Advantages:

1) Larger address space

2) Mandatory network-layer security

3) Simplified processing by routers

4) Mobility



Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipv6

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a standard protocol used to communicate management information between the network management stations (NMS) and the agents (ex. routers, switches, network devices) in the network elements.




Key components of SNMP: managed devices, agents, and network-management systems (NMSs).

• A managed device is a network node that contains an SNMP agent and that resides on a managed network.

• An agent is a network management software module that resides in a managed device.

• An NMS executes applications that monitor and control managed devices.



Versions of SNMP: SNMP v1, SNMP v2 and SNMP v3.

• Both versions 1 and 2 have a number of features in common, but SNMPv2 offers enhancements, such as additional protocol operations.

• SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) adds security and remote configuration capabilities to the previous versions.



This figure shows the basic operation of simple network management protocol (SNMP).





Reference:

http://www.networkdictionary.com/protocols/snmp.php

http://www.telecomdictionary.com/telecom_dictionary_SNMP_definition.html

Mobile Banking

Mobile Banking refers to provision and availment of banking- and financial services with the help of mobile telecommunication devices (mobile phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)). The scope of offered services may include facilities to conduct bank and stock market transactions, to administer accounts and to access customized information.




SMS was the earliest mobile banking service that was offered. With the revolution in the mobile world by the introduction of the Smart Phones and their rapid penetration all over the world through its affordability have led to increasing development of the special client programs, called apps, which can be downloaded to the mobile devices.



Mobile Banking Business Models:

With the entry of the Mobile devices into the banking arena a wide variety of mobile banking models are evolving. These Models Primarily differ on the question that who will establish the relationship with the end customer, the Bank or the Non-Bank/Telecommunication Company (Telco).



Models of branchless banking can be classified into three broad categories –

 Bank Focused

In this a traditional bank uses non-traditional low-cost delivery channels to provide banking services to its existing customers. Examples like ATM’s and limited Mobile Services like SMS.

 Bank-Led

This model offers a distinct alternative to conventional branch-based banking in that customer conducts financial transactions at a whole range of retail agents (or through mobile phone) instead of at bank branches or through bank employees. By this Bank substantially increase the financial services outreach by using a different delivery channel at significantly cheaper cost than the bank-based alternatives

 Nonbank-Led.

In this Bank had a Limited role in the day-to-day activities. All the Account Management activities will be taken care by a non-bank (e.g. telco) who has direct contact with individual customers.

Mobile Banking Services:



Mobile banking can offer services such as the following:

Account information

1. Mini-statements and checking of account history

2. Alerts on account activity or passing of set thresholds

3. Monitoring of term deposits

4. Access to loan statements

5. Access to card statements.

Payments, deposits, withdrawals, and transfers

1. Domestic and international fund transfers

2. Micro-payment handling

3. Mobile recharging

4. Commercial payment processing.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_banking

Subscriber Identity Module

A SIM card, also known as a subscriber identity module, is a subscriber identity module application on a smartcard that stores data for GSM/CDMA Cellular telephone subscribers. Such data includes user identity, network authorization data, personal security keys, contact lists and stored text messages.



A SIM is embedded into a removable SIM card, which can be transferred between different mobile devices. SIM cards were first made the same size as a credit card (85.60 mm × 53.98 mm × 0.76 mm). The development of physically-smaller mobile devices prompted the development of a smaller SIM card, the mini-SIM card. Mini-SIM cards have the same thickness as full-size cards, but their length and width are reduced to 25 mm × 15 mm.



A SIM card contains its unique serial number (Integrated Circuit Card ID), internationally unique number of the mobile user (IMSI), security authentication and ciphering information, temporary information related to the local network, a list of the services the user has access to and two passwords: a personal identification number (PIN) for ordinary use and a personal unblocking code (PUK) for PIN unlocking.





Security features include Authentication and encryption to protect data and prevent eavesdropping.



The SIM card performs the following valuable functions:

1. Identification of a subscriber

2. Authentication of a subscriber

3. Storage: To store phone numbers and SMS.

4. Applications: To provide basic information on demand and other applications for m-commerce, chatting, cell broadcast, phonebook backup, location based services etc.

References:

• http://www.mpf.org.in/pdf/technology/SIM_Card_Committee_Report.pdf

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subscriber_Identity_Module

Voice over Internet Protocol (Voice over IP, VoIP)

VOIP is a family of technologies, methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission techniques for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. Other terms frequently encountered and often used synonymously with VoIP are IP telephony, Internet telephony, voice over broadband (VoBB), broadband telephony, and broadband phone.



Internet telephony refers to communications services—Voice, fax, SMS, and/or voice-messaging applications—that are transported via the Internet, rather than the public switched telephone network (PSTN).



How does VOIP Work?

 VoIP generally work on the established methods of sending packed digitized data over the internet. TCP/IP networks are made of IP packets containing a header (to control communication) and a payload to transport data: VoIP uses it to go across the network and come to destination. While sending information analog data is digitized with the help of an ADC (analog to digital converter), transmitted and then at the other end the data is again transformed in analog format with DAC (digital to analog converter) to use it. VoIP also works in very similar manner. VoIP digitalizes voice in data packets and then sends them to the destination and reconverting them back to voice at destination.

 VoIP is available on many smart phones and Internet devices so that users of portable devices that are not phones may place calls or send SMS text messages over 3G or Wi-Fi



Advantages

• The ability to transmit more than one telephone call over a single broadband connection.

• Because of the bandwidth efficiency and low costs that VoIP technology can provide, businesses are migrating from traditional copper-wire telephone systems to VoIP systems to reduce their monthly phone costs.

• Secure calls using standardized protocols (such as Secure Real-time Transport Protocol). Most of the difficulties of creating a secure telephone connection over traditional phone lines, such as digitizing and digital transmission, are already in place with VoIP. It is only necessary to encrypt and authenticate the existing data stream

• Probably one of the most compelling advantages of packet switching is that data networks already understand the technology. By migrating to this technology, telephone networks immediately gain the ability to communicate the way computers do.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_Internet_Protocol

Digital Signature

A digital signature is an electronic signature that can be used to authenticate the identity of the sender of a message or the signer of a document, and possibly to ensure that the original content of the message or document that has been sent is unchanged. Digital signatures are easily transportable, cannot be imitated by someone else, and can be automatically time-stamped. The ability to ensure that the original signed message arrived means that the sender cannot easily repudiate it later.



A digital signature can be used with any kind of message, whether it is encrypted or not. Digitally signed messages may be anything representable as a bitstring: examples include electronic mail, contracts, or a message sent via some other cryptographic protocol. Digital signatures are commonly used for software distribution, financial transactions, and in other cases where it is important to detect forgery or tampering.



Digital signatures are often used to implement electronic signatures, a broader term that refers to any electronic data that carries the intent of a signature, but not all electronic signatures use digital signatures. In some countries, including the United States, India and members of the European Union, electronic signatures have legal significance.



A digital signature scheme typically consists of three algorithms:

• A key generation algorithm that selects a private key uniformly at random from a set of possible private keys. The algorithm outputs the private key and a corresponding public key.

• A signing algorithm that, given a message and a private key, produces a signature.

• A signature verifying algorithm that, given a message, public key and a signature, either accepts or rejects the message's claim to authenticity.



Some of the well-known digital signature algorithms are:

• RSA-based signature schemes, such as RSA-PSS

• DSA and its elliptic curve variant ECDSA

• ElGamal signature scheme as the predecessor to DSA, and variants Schnorr signature and Pointcheval–Stern signature algorithm

• Rabin signature algorithm

• Pairing-based schemes such as BLS

• Undeniable signatures

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_signature

WAP - Wireless Application Protocol

The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is an open, global specification that empowers mobile users with wireless devices to easily access and interact with information and services instantly. It provides service interoperability even between different device families.



WAP is designed to work with most wireless networks such as CDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, TETRA, DECT and GRPS etc. WAP can be built on any operating system including PalmOS, EPOC, Windows CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, JavaOS etc.



WAP Protocol Suite:

The WAP standard described a protocol suite allowing the interoperability of WAP equipment and software with different network technologies.





How WAP works?

The WAP transport model is analogous to the Internet model, except for the gateway that is inserted between the Web server and the client. The application server can be located in either a public or private IP network. The gateway normally is located in telecom networks, but it can be set up by a company using its own computer system, let’s look at a typical scenario using WAP technology:



1. A user with a WAP device requests content from the application server.

2. The request reaches the gateway first, which does the protocol translation from WAP to HTTP and routes the HTTP request to the destination server.

3. The server returns WML (Wireless Markup Language) output and adds HTTP headers to the gateway, depending upon whether dynamic or static pages are requested.

4. The gateway converts WML and HTTP to binary form to conserve bandwidth and returns a WAP response to the user.

5. A browser inside WAP devices that parses and interprets the WML and WMLScript, to show the contents.



References:

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-basics-of-wap-technology/1031976

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Application_Protocol

WAP - Wireless Application Protocol

The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is an open, global specification that empowers mobile users with wireless devices to easily access and interact with information and services instantly. It provides service interoperability even between different device families.



WAP is designed to work with most wireless networks such as CDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, TETRA, DECT and GRPS etc. WAP can be built on any operating system including PalmOS, EPOC, Windows CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, JavaOS etc.



WAP Protocol Suite:

The WAP standard described a protocol suite allowing the interoperability of WAP equipment and software with different network technologies.





How WAP works?

The WAP transport model is analogous to the Internet model, except for the gateway that is inserted between the Web server and the client. The application server can be located in either a public or private IP network. The gateway normally is located in telecom networks, but it can be set up by a company using its own computer system, let’s look at a typical scenario using WAP technology:



1. A user with a WAP device requests content from the application server.

2. The request reaches the gateway first, which does the protocol translation from WAP to HTTP and routes the HTTP request to the destination server.

3. The server returns WML (Wireless Markup Language) output and adds HTTP headers to the gateway, depending upon whether dynamic or static pages are requested.

4. The gateway converts WML and HTTP to binary form to conserve bandwidth and returns a WAP response to the user.

5. A browser inside WAP devices that parses and interprets the WML and WMLScript, to show the contents.



References:

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-basics-of-wap-technology/1031976

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Application_Protocol

SONET - Synchronous Optical Networking / SDH - Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) are standardized multiplexing protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs). At low transmission rates data can also be transferred via an electrical interface. The method was developed to replace the Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) system for transporting large amounts of telephone calls and data traffic over the same fiber without synchronization problems. SONET generic criteria are detailed in Telcordia Technologies Generic Requirements document GR-253-CORE. Generic criteria applicable to SONET and other transmission systems (e.g., asynchronous fiber optic systems or digital radio systems) are found in Telcordia GR-499-CORE.



SONET and SDH, which are essentially the same, were originally designed to transport circuit mode communications (e.g., DS1, DS3) from a variety of different sources, but they were primarily designed to support real-time, uncompressed, circuit-switched voice encoded in PCM format. The primary difficulty in doing this prior to SONET/SDH was that the synchronization sources of these various circuits were different. This meant that each circuit was actually operating at a slightly different rate and with different phase. SONET/SDH allowed for the simultaneous transport of many different circuits of differing origin within a single framing protocol.



Both SDH and SONET are widely used today: SONET in the United States and Canada, and SDH in the rest of the world. Although the SONET standards were developed before SDH, it is considered a variation of SDH because of SDH's greater worldwide market penetration.



The SDH standard was originally defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and is formalized as International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standards G.707, G.783, G.784, and G.803. The SONET standard was defined by Telcordia and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard T1.105.



Advantages of SONET:

• Reduction in equipment requirements and an increase in network reliability.

• Allow transmission of data at higher speeds (50 Mbps+)

• Access to low-level signals directly

• SONET is synchronous. This requires a constant timing source for both the receiving and transmitting of traffic.

• It has a flexible architecture capable of accommodating future applications with a variety of transmission rates.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronous_optical_networking

http://www.fiberoptic.com/adt_sonet_sdh.htm

SONET - Synchronous Optical Networking / SDH - Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) are standardized multiplexing protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs). At low transmission rates data can also be transferred via an electrical interface. The method was developed to replace the Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) system for transporting large amounts of telephone calls and data traffic over the same fiber without synchronization problems. SONET generic criteria are detailed in Telcordia Technologies Generic Requirements document GR-253-CORE. Generic criteria applicable to SONET and other transmission systems (e.g., asynchronous fiber optic systems or digital radio systems) are found in Telcordia GR-499-CORE.



SONET and SDH, which are essentially the same, were originally designed to transport circuit mode communications (e.g., DS1, DS3) from a variety of different sources, but they were primarily designed to support real-time, uncompressed, circuit-switched voice encoded in PCM format. The primary difficulty in doing this prior to SONET/SDH was that the synchronization sources of these various circuits were different. This meant that each circuit was actually operating at a slightly different rate and with different phase. SONET/SDH allowed for the simultaneous transport of many different circuits of differing origin within a single framing protocol.



Both SDH and SONET are widely used today: SONET in the United States and Canada, and SDH in the rest of the world. Although the SONET standards were developed before SDH, it is considered a variation of SDH because of SDH's greater worldwide market penetration.



The SDH standard was originally defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and is formalized as International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standards G.707, G.783, G.784, and G.803. The SONET standard was defined by Telcordia and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard T1.105.



Advantages of SONET:

• Reduction in equipment requirements and an increase in network reliability.

• Allow transmission of data at higher speeds (50 Mbps+)

• Access to low-level signals directly

• SONET is synchronous. This requires a constant timing source for both the receiving and transmitting of traffic.

• It has a flexible architecture capable of accommodating future applications with a variety of transmission rates.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronous_optical_networking

http://www.fiberoptic.com/adt_sonet_sdh.htm

SMS Gateways

SMS gateway is a telecommunications network facility for sending or receiving Short Message Service (SMS) transmissions to or from a telecommunications network that supports SMS. Most messages are eventually routed into the mobile phone networks. Many SMS gateways support media conversion from email and other formats.



Different companies developed and use their own communication protocol and most of these protocols are proprietary. For example, Nokia has an SMSC protocol (short message service center) called CIMD (Computer Interface to Message Distribution) whereas another SMSC vendor CMG, has an SMSC protocol called EMI (External Machine Interface).



Two SMSCs cannot connect if they do not support a common SMSC protocol. To deal with this problem, an SMS gateway is placed between two SMSCs. The SMS gateway acts as a relay between the two SMSCs. It translates one SMSC protocol to another one.







Implementations:



Direct-to-mobile gateway appliance

• A direct-to-mobile gateway is a device which has built-in wireless GSM connectivity. It allows SMS text messages to be sent and/or received by email, from web pages or from other software applications by acquiring a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM card).

Direct-to-SMSC gateway

• A direct-to-SMSC gateway is a device which allows SMS text messages to be sent and received by email, from web pages or from other software applications. The gateway connects directly to a mobile operator's SMSC via the Internet or direct leased line connections. It converts the message format into a format understood by the SMSC.

Microsoft Outlook

• Microsoft Outlook 2007 has native support for sending SMS messages worldwide via the Outlook Mobile Service. There is also plug-ins for Microsoft Outlook that adds this functionality.

AOL Instant Messenger

• AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) version 5.2 and above has support for sending SMS messages for free. Third-party client Pidgin also supports this functionality through the AIM protocol.

Yahoo! Messenger

• Yahoo! Messenger, accessible through a dedicated client application or through a web site (mail.yahoo.com) has support for SMS messages. Third-party client Pidgin also supports this functionality through the Yahoo! protocol since version 2.6.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_gateway

http://www.developershome.com/sms/sms_tutorial.asp?page=smsGateway

Virtual Machine

A virtual machine (VM) is a software implementation of a computing environment in which an operating system (OS) or program can be installed and run.



The virtual machine typically emulates a physical computing environment, but requests for CPU, memory, hard disk, network and other hardware resources are managed by a virtualization layer which translates these requests to the underlying physical hardware.



VMs are created within a virtualization layer, such as a hypervisor or a virtualization platform that runs on top of a client or server operating system. This operating system is known as the host OS. The virtualization layer can be used to create many individual, isolated VM environments.



Typically, guest operating systems and programs are not aware that they are running on a virtual platform and, as long as the VM's virtual platform is supported, this software can be installed in the same way it would be deployed to physical server hardware. For example, the guest OS might appear to have a physical hard disk attached to it, but actual I/O requests are translated by the virtualization layer so they actually occur against a file that is accessible by the host OS.



A virtual machine can also be a virtual environment, which is also known as a virtual private server. A virtual environment is used for running programs at the user level. Therefore, it is used solely for applications and not for drivers or operating system kernels.



A virtual machine may also be a group of computers that work together to create a more powerful machine. In this type of machine, the software makes it possible for one environment to be formed throughout several computers. This makes it appear to the end user as if he or she is using a single computer, when there are actually numerous computers at work.



Virtual machines can provide numerous advantages over the installation of OS's and software directly on physical hardware. Isolation ensures that applications and services that run within a VM cannot interfere with the host OS or other VMs. VMs can also be easily moved, copied, and reassigned between host servers to optimize hardware resource utilization. Administrators can also take advantage of virtual environments to simply backups, disaster recovery, new deployments and basic system administration tasks. The use of virtual machines also comes with several important management considerations, many of which can be addressed through general systems administration best practices and tools that are designed to manage VMs.



References:



• http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/definition/virtual-machine

• http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-virtual-machine.htm

Integrated Digital Loop Carrier (IDLC)




IDLC systems are the integration of Integrated digital terminal (IDT) and Remote digital terminal (RDT).



Integrated digital terminal (IDT) is a part of local digital switch (LDS) and it acts like a concentrator to put more channels on a digital communications line.



IDLC system moves some of the switching services from the local switches into RDTs to increase the efficiency of communication lines between customers and central office.





The above diagram shows how an integrated digital loop carrier (IDLC) system can be installed in a local telephone distribution network to allow a 24 channel T1 line(A T1 line refers to a specific type of copper or fiber optic telephone line that can carry more data than traditional telephone lines) to provide service up to 96 telephone lines.



A switching system has been upgraded to include an IDT and a RDT which has been located close to a residential neighborhood. IDT dynamically connects access lines (actually digital time slots) in the switching system to time slots on the communications line between IDT and RDT. RDT is a local switch that can connect up to 96 residential telephone lines.



When a call is to be originated, RDT connects (locally switches) the residential line to one of the available channels on the DS1 (Digital signal 1) interconnection line. IDT communicates with RDT using GR-303(GR-303 is a Bellcore specification that defines a set of generic interface requirements that allow Class-5 digital switches from one vendor to interface with access systems from another) standard.



Reference:

http://www.telecomdictionary.com/telecom_dictionary_IDLC_definition.html

Software Defined Radio

A software-defined radio system, or SDR, is a radio communication system where components that have been typically implemented in hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented by means of software on a personal computer or embedded computing devices.



A basic SDR system may consist of a personal computer equipped with a sound card, or other analog-to-digital converter, preceded by some form of RF front end. Significant amounts of signal processing are handed over to the general-purpose processor, rather than being done in special-purpose hardware. Such a design produces a radio which can receive and transmit widely different radio protocols (sometimes referred to as waveforms) based solely on the software used.



Software radios have significant utility for the military and cell phone services, both of which must serve a wide variety of changing radio protocols in real time.



In the long term, software-defined radios are expected by proponents like the SDRForum (now The Wireless Innovation Forum) to become the dominant technology in radio communications. SDRs, along with software defined antennas are the enablers of the cognitive radio.



A software-defined radio can be flexible enough to avoid the "limited spectrum" assumptions of designers of previous kinds of radios, in one or more ways including:



• Spread spectrum and ultrawideband techniques allow several transmitters to transmit in the same place on the same frequency with very little interference, typically combined with one or more error detection and correction techniques to fix all the errors caused by that interference.

• Software defined antennas adaptively "lock onto" a directional signal, so that receivers can better reject interference from other directions, allowing it to detect fainter transmissions.

• Cognitive radio techniques: each radio measures the spectrum in use and communicates that information to other cooperating radios, and then transmitters avoid frequencies currently in use by licensed transmitters or are otherwise unusable, and shift transmissions to "empty" frequencies.

• Dynamic transmitter power adjustment, based on information communicated from the receivers, lowering transmits power to the minimum necessary, reducing the near-far problem and reducing interference to others.

• Wireless mesh network where every added radio increases total capacity and reduces the power required at any one node. Each node only transmits loudly enough for the message to hop to the nearest node in that direction.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software-defined_radio

BSS: Business Support System

Business Support Systems (BSS) are the systems that a telephone operator uses to run its business operations. The term BSS is no longer limited to telephone operators offering mobile to fixed and cable services but also can apply to service providers in all sectors such as utility providers.



Typical types of activities that count as part of BSS are taking a customer’s order, managing customer data, billing, rating, and offering B2B and B2C services.



Business Support Systems (BSS) cover 4 main areas

• Product Management: Product management supports the sales and management of products, offers and bundles to businesses and mass-market customers.



• Customer Management: Service Providers require a single view of the customer and regularly need to support complex hierarchies across customer-facing applications.



• Revenue Management: Revenue Management is a BSS focus on billing, charging and settlement that can handle any combination of OSS services, products and offers. BSS Revenue Management supports OSS order provisioning and often partner settlement.



• Fulfillment Management: Fulfillment Management as part of assurance is normally associated with Operational Support Systems though Business Support Systems are often the business driver for Fulfillment Management and order provisioning.



The complementary term Operations Support Systems (OSS) is an older term for similar functions. The two systems together are often abbreviated BSS/OSS or simply B/OSS. B/OSS plays a critical role to

support operations of a service provider and its increasing business services.





Reference:

http://www.networkdictionary.com/telecom/BSS.php

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