Computer Networks

Over the past decade, networks and their capabilities have grown at an astounding rate.  The ability to do what we can with today’s technology might have seemed unfathomable just a few years ago.  Just the same, a few years from now technology will likely seem just as unimaginable.  With protocols, standards and classifications, each network from global interconnectivity, down to your cell phone, car, and how they communicate, can be named and dissected.

Networks are typically categorized into four different types, LANs, MANs, WANs and PANs.

LANs, local area networks, are networks that are confined to a small geographical area usually under 10 kilometers with proprietary ownership, such as, a business or home network.  MANs, metropolitan area networks, are networks using cellular transmissions that connect large regional areas like a city.  They are usually between 10 to 50 kilometers and can be either public or privately owned.  They also provide internet to LAN’s, and are typically smaller than WANs, but larger than LANs.  WANs, wide area networks, are networks that connect a large geographical area typically over 50 kilometers and are publicly owned (Liu Sheng, 1992), such as countries or the entire world.  One example would be the Internet, which is the largest network (Vermaat, 2016).  Last and least, PANs, personal area networks, connect an individual’s devices, such as computers, smartphones, and tablets.  One example would be a wireless hotspot on your phone.  They can connect through wired technology, Wi-Fi, or even Bluetooth.

Bluetooth is a technology using radio frequency allowing for short range communications between devices.  It was developed in 1994 by L.M. Ericsson with a goal of creating universal low cost and user-friendly communication (Pieterse & Oliver, 2014).  With his success, Bluetooth has many advantages.  For starters, it’s free as long as the device being used has Bluetooth capabilities.  Otherwise, you might have to purchase an adapter at a low cost.  It’s also very simple to use and universal due to the use of an unregulated band of frequency.  

Another amazing technology that uses a radio frequency is RFID.  It is a radio frequency identification that works as a PAN network using short range radio frequency to communicate between a transceiver and a tag, which consists of a chip and an antenna.  The tags are placed on or in objects, animals, and humans for multiple reasons.  They can be used to monitor health, provide identification, and track location.  For example, it can be very beneficial to a farmer.  He can tag his livestock to monitor their health to help prevent the spread of disease, and in case of theft, can not only track them, but also prove ownership.

RFID is a rapidly growing industry and is showing great promise in the area of retail.  Soon all barcodes will be replaced with tags.  It will not only help prevent product theft, but can simplify the checkout process by simultaneously scanning the entire cart and automatically updating the inventory.

Having a network has it’s many benefits.  For example, a business network can improve productivity by installing VoiP video phones to improve collaboration not only between employees, but also partners or vendors at a more economical means.  Another way to increase productivity would be to utilize an FTP server, especially in a company that deals with large amounts of data shared among their employees.  However, sometimes a network can be counterproductive.  For example, if the FTP server on the network became infected with malware and was out of service, the employees wouldn’t be able to access work documents creating a huge setback in productivity.

With the benefits of networks, also comes some challenges.  Wireless networks in particular face several.  One of the largest being the consumption of bandwidth and the fact that it is increasing at an accelerated rate, with an expected 57% annual growth.  According to Yoo (2014), “the number of mobile broadband subscribers has exceeded the number of subscribers of all other broadband technologies combined.”  When large amounts of traffic consume all the available broadband, it leads to packets having to wait in queues.  This network congestion leads to jitters and latency.  One easy remedy would be to simply increase network capacity.  Another way would be with network management by prioritizing traffic.  The administrator can place a higher prioritization on delay sensitive applications and vice versa.

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