TABLE OF CONTENTS In the first ten chapters of this book we considered various aspects of telecommunications networks: their components, how they are constructed, and the way that voice and data is carried. Now, in this final chapter we take a holistic view of how all the pieces are put together, how the end-to-end service provided to the users is managed, and how the networks are progressively enhanced and developed to take advantage of new technology. Specifically, the so-called NGN concept is examined. It is hoped that by the end of this chapter readers will have gained an insight into the intriguing question raised in the Foreword to the book, i.e. whether it is right to assume that all communications will eventually move onto the Internet.
As we have seen in the earlier chapters there are many components used in telecommunications networks, which require appropriate linking in order to provide services for customers. This situation is shown conceptually in Fig. 11.1, with the network components of access, circuit-switching, core transmission, intelligence and signalling shown as pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, residing within the domain of the applicable commercial and regulatory environment, which together provides services. The classical method of understanding in a systematic way how all the pieces fit together is through the use of architectures. In every day life we understand how the use of architecture helps to describe the structure of a house giving the relationships between the walls, windows, floors, roof, etc. It also shows...
