Applications of high speed networks.

Abstract

This thesis discusses the utility and application of high speed networks in the evolving technological environment of communications. In the early sections of this work the primary thesis explicitly presents the properties of fiber optics, existing and developing high speed networks, and applications of these high speed networks. The analysis and validation of this thesis leads to two major postulations. The first investigates the possibility of replacing the current communication network for the Aegis real-time combat system aboard Naval ships with a dual optical fiber ring. This network would consolidate all sensors, weapons, electronic equipment, and computers into a single communication network, possessing a simple topology, higher data transfer capability, and enhanced security. The network has also been designed to accommodate the projected requirements of the next generation of surface combatant.The future system is expected to build upon the current Aegis combat system architecture, becoming more complex but remaining a well integrated and easily operable combat system. A high speed network based on FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Network) can satisfy the demand for more bandwidth, integrating both real-time and other communication services aboard a ship. This paper supports the view that FDDI can not only successfully replace the current communications in a ship's combat system, but also provide an enhanced level of operation. There are also several other advantages which are quite significant. These include a significant reduction in weight and volume, and reduced susceptibility to electromagnetic interference. The second major construction is the configuration of a hospital health care system utilizing a high speed network. The intern-hospital network would connect the medical hardware, electronic equipment, and computers into a single network. It is projected that the intern-hospital network will interface with an external network employing emerging telephone transmission capabilities. The high speed networks based on Distributed Queue Dual Bus (DQDB) and Synchronous Optic NETwork (SONET)/ Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) can satisfy the demand for more bandwidth, integrating services such as voice, video, image, and text.