CSCE 3530: Network Edge and Core Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards derived from CSCE 3530 lecture material covering the network edge, access network technologies, packet transmission formulas, network core infrastructure, and the distinction between routing and forwarding.

Network Edge

The outer region of the Internet structure composed of hosts, which include client and server end systems (with servers often residing in data centers).

Access Networks

The wired or wireless communication links that connect end system edge devices to the network core.

Network Core

A mesh of interconnected routers that forms a network of networks to move data from source to destination.

Packet

A small chunk of data of length $L$ bits, created by breaking down an application message for transmission across a network.

Transmission Rate ($R$)

Also referred to as bandwidth, the rate measured in bits per second ($\text{bits/sec}$) at which a packet is transmitted into an access network, where time to transmit equals $\frac{L}{R}$.

Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)

A channel sharing mechanism used in cable access where different communication channels are transmitted in different frequency bands.

Cable-Based Access

An access technology using coaxial cable that features asymmetric transmission rates ($40\text{ Mbps} - 1.2\text{ Gbps}$ downstream and $30 - 100\text{ Mbps}$ upstream) and shared access with guaranteed baseline performance.

Wireless Local Area Network (WiFi)

A wireless access technology based on standards such as 802.11b/g/n, covering within or around a building (~$100\text{ ft}$) with transmission rates of $11 - 450\text{ Mbps}$.

Wide-Area Cellular Network

A wireless access system provided by cellular operators (e.g., 3G/4G/5G) providing a range of tens of miles and transmission rates in the tens of Mbps with shared access lacking guaranteed baseline performance.

Enterprise Access Network

A network infrastructure used by companies and universities that uses a mix of wired (e.g., Ethernet) and wireless (e.g., WiFi) technologies connected through a hierarchy of switches and routers.

Datacenter Access Network

A network environment connecting hundreds to thousands of servers to each other and the Internet using high-bandwidth wired links ($1\text{ to }100s\text{ Gbps}$) organized to maximize bandwidth and minimize latency.

Forwarding

Also known as switching, this is the local router action of transferring an arriving packet from an input link to the appropriate output link based on a local forwarding table.

Routing

The global network core action that uses routing algorithms to determine the end-to-end source-to-destination paths taken by packets.