In this study course students are introduced with digital switching systems that are reviewed from the perspective of circuit and packet switched networks. Study course provides students with an in-depth understanding of telecommunication network operational principles, hence increasing students' professional and theoretical knowledge in the telecommunication industry. In this course students study types of communication network nodes, their structure and operational principles. A study course covers architecture of public network (Internet), its division in Autonomous Systems (AS) and routing among and within them as well as Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), Traffic Engineering (TE) and its capabilities. Virtualization in computer networks is reviewed as well - virtual routing instances, virtual private networks, their types and advantages. An introduction in network security. Software defined network (SDN) structure, functions and advantages. Network management and automation. Overview of Next Generation Networks (NGN) - architecture, elements, topologies and ITU-T vision of NGN.
Course contents:
- Introduction to digital switching systems. Fundamentals of circuit switching. Analog and digital signals. Signaling system. Fundamentals of packet switching and packet switched networks.
- Router structure and operational principles. Switching fabric in routers. Modular switches and routers.
- Architecture of public network (Internet). Autonomous systems. Routing protocols and metrics. Routing among autonomous systems. GNS3 network emulation tool.
- Lab: Network services, routing protocols
- Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) in packet networks. LDP protocol. MPLS services: MPLS VPN, AToM, VPLS.
- Lab: Introduction to MPLS technology – labeled packet switching
- Traffic engineering, Integrated services (IntServ), Differentiated services (DiffServ). MPLS traffic engineering. Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP), RSVP-TE.
- Lab: Introduction to MPLS-TE technology
- Virtualization in computer networks. Channel and interface virtualization. Virtual routing and forwarding (VRFs). VXLAN technology. Network function virtualization.
- Lab: Virtualization in computer networks. Virtual routing and forwarding
- VPN networks, types and advantages. Tunneling in IP networks (GRE, IPIP, EoIP). Introduction to Network Security. Firewalls. Public key cryptography. Symmetric and asymmetric encryption. Key exchange
- Software-Defined Network (SDN) their architecture, functions and interfaces. OpenFlow protocol. Mininet network emulation tool.
- Lab: Software-Defined Network. Mininet tool
- Network management and automation. Data serialization languages: JSON, YAML, XML. Ansible. Python language. Web-based free access test environments for automation: e.g., Cisco DEVNET Sandbox
- Lab: Network management, automation
- Next Generation Networks (NGN), architecture, elements, topologies, vision of ITU-T.
