A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MIXED-MEDIA NETWORKS

Abstract

The hottest buzzword in telecommunications today is. convergence. While convergence has different meanings to different people in the industry, it can be defined simply as the integration of multiple media at the circuit level. Media can be any combination of voice, data, video, graphics, fax, or any other digitized information form. As both ATM and IP now are viable transmission technologies for these media, it becomes critical to examine which transmission technology is best suited and most' cost effective for varying traffic. Therefore, this thesis examines the architecture, structure and implementation of both technologies in relation to voice, data and video highlighting the suitability or otherwise of both technologies for these services. A comparative analysis of these technologies was carried out based on several parameters like cost, reliability, complexity, speed, multimedia support, connection type, quality of service, delay, suitable industry and video application. It was observed that Network Designers in their choice between both technologies would have to make compromises based on cost/benefit trade-offs of these technologies for different services. The thesis concludes with a prediction of what the future holds for convergence networks .