Definition and historical of unbundling

One of the most incredible features of TCP/IP has to do with the fact that the protocol is almost completely defined in terms of software. TCP/IP is defined as “the collection (or suite) of networking protocols that have been used to construct the global Internet. The protocols are also referred to as the DoD (dee-oh-dee) or Arpanet protocol suite because their early development was funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the US Department of Defense (DoD).

” (Oliver; 2005; Paragraph 8) But in general sense and in wider usage the Transmission Control Protocol or TCP and the Internet Protocol or IP belongs to the category of Internet protocol suite which can be defined as set of implementation of communications protocols that is used for protocol stack. This protocol stack is the key functioning authority on which the activation and operation of most of the commercial networks and specifically internet depends to maneuver. The most widely used TCP/IP utilities or protocols are UNIX workstations.

Other such TCP/IP utilities or protocols are Arp, Nslookup, Finger, Ping, Ftp, Rcp, Hostname, Rexec, Ipconfig, Route, Lpq, Rsh, Lpr, Tftp, Nbtstat, Tracert and Netstat. (Kar, 2006) In this protocol unlike almost anywhere else the physical amenities are kept intangible and thus abstract, such that all the information we so easily access over the Internet is completely independent from any form of hardware. It is this independence from a conventional infrastructure (which had until very recently been regarded as the primary requirement for any form of telecommunication based activity) that has come to be known as unbundling.

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One will undoubtedly remember that in the very first stages of the development of the Internet the mini-computer provided the physical layer and the datalink the devoted line. Later when the computer started making use of the dial-up connection to connect to the Internet the physical layer was provided by the PC and the telephone line provided the dedicated connection. Thus we saw that the Internet can link such utterly different networks provided they are both able to send and accept TCP/IP packets.

In PSTN’s (Public Switched Telephone Network) circuit switching mode telephone lines were switched physically at the central level by telephone exchanges. This allowed the exchanges to continue to control both the physical and the other layers and to guarantee a bandwidth by creating a prior connection amongst the terminals. Hence, as we can see in such a case the protocols had to be coordinated for every layer in order to ensure a connection between the various networks. (Fletcher, 2003)

Unlike in such a connection the TCP/IP connection makes use of what is called a packet switching system where the data is put into a sort of packet and the packet submitted to a certain address simply by writing the address at which it needs to be posted in the header. In such a system there is no need for establishing a connection as we know it. As is obvious such a system is both cheap and easy however its reliability has often been doubted since neither its route nor its bandwidth can really be guaranteed.

Given the doubt surrounding it the Internet remained a mere experimental protocol, used by academics and researches for over 2 decades after which it finally broke into everyday life. Today of course this form of deletion of the physical level of the connection is being incorporated in every form of telecommunication. Unbundled Network Elements The UNE or Unbundled Network Elements has been identified as a requirement by the 1996 US Telecommunications Act. The UNE is a part of the network, which the ILEC will now have to offer on an unbundled basis.

In unison with a few other parts of the ILEC UNE will construct a loop connecting to either a DSLAM or a voice switch or even both, on certain occasions. This loop will allow non-facilities-based telecom suppliers to provide services even without laying the sort of copper/optical fiber network that they have been required to until now. Thus UNE is the name given to a process involving the separation of various individual parts of the telecommunication network into physical or operational components of the network.

The FCC has recently demanded that the ILEC bundle network elements and levy a monetary charge on the UNE’s, which will emerge out in the process, so as to make them available for leasing to CLEC’s who has expressed a desire to supply local exchange services by means of both leased components as well as their own amenities. The FCC has defined ‘network element’ broadly enough to include both “a facility and equipment used in the provision of a telecommunications service” (Blumenfeld, 1997) as well as “features, functions, and capabilities that are provided by means of such a facility or equipment.

” (Blumenfeld, 1997) By “features functions and capabilities” (Blumenfeld, 1997) the FCC refers to subscriber numbers, records, signaling systems as well as information enough to allow both billing and collection of the billed amount. The FCC has interpreted the term Network element to refer to both physical amenities (such as functions, switch, the loop, logical features etc. ) as well as the software facilities within the physical ones. Additionally, the operations and features the network element comes affixed with are intricately entwined with the various characteristics of the element and can therefore not be detached from it.

An ILEC has to therefore supply network elements complete with all the features and functions they need to have to work properly so as to allow new entrants to present both new services as well competitive services that will contend existing ones. (Dollard, 2006) In this context it should be mentioned that individually, Transmission Control Protocol or TCP can be defined as one of the most, if not the most, important protocols of the IPS or Internet protocol suite. It is this Transmission Control Protocol or TCP that acts as an application that enables the host to exchange data by creating connections among or between hosts or users.

This application is extremely reliable and ensures in order delivery of huge amount of data between sender and receiver. Transmission Control Protocol or TCP also uses application that enables the host to distinguish data when there are existences of multiple connections with the help of concurrent applications. Examples of uses of such concurrent applications by the Transmission Control Protocol or TCP can be referred to as e-mail server and Web server. It should be remembered that the TCP also supports many other internet applications along with e-mail and World Wide Web.

Such popular applications in the sense of protocol also include the application of Secure Shell. However it should be remembered that TCP as well as IP can affect e-mail in the sense that any system connected to TCP/IP is basically vulnerable to internet attacks. As a whole the TCP/IP is not affected but the system tends to crash with lack of memory thereby affecting the e-mail applications. Transmission Control Protocol or TCP can be recognized as a transitional layer that lies below the Internet Protocol or IP Layer and acts as an application layer above the IP within the framework of the Internet protocol suite or IPS.

In such circumstances it should be mentioned that the Transmission Control Protocol application acts as an extremely reliable tool to enable and facilitate the application with connections like pipe with each other as the other reliable tool, the Internet Protocol, is not well equipped to handle such function reliably. In its case the only available usage are some fragile packets of applications. The important task of the Transmission Control Protocol application lies in the transportation specifically in the computer networks that works on an OSI model.

(Zimmerman, 2004) In a basic sense the Transmission Control Protocol application connections are depended on three major phases. These are connection termination, data transfer and connection establishment. There are also numerous conditions of Internet socket or connection end-point. These could be enumerated as listen, closed, time-wait, syn-sent, last-ack, syn-received, fin-wait-1, established, close-wait, fin-wait-2 and closing.

Reference:

Blumenfeld & Cohen; December 16, 1997; Telecommunications Act of 1996; Technology Law Group; retrieved on 16. 09.

2007 from http://www. dinf. ne. jp/doc/english/Us_Eu/ada_e/telcom_act/act_pre. htm Dollard, R. (2006) Ethernet Technology: A New Look. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Fletcher, R; (2003); Beliefs and Knowledge: Believing and Knowing; Howard & Price. Kar, P; 2006; History of Internet and related application of Internet; Dasgupta & Chatterjee Oliver, Mike; 2005; TCP/IP Frequently Asked Questions; Paragraph 8; retrieved on 17-09-2007 from http://www. itprc. com/tcpipfaq/faq-1. htm#what-tcpip Zimmerman, D; 2004; On the Path of Success; IBL & Alliance Ltd

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