LIGHT SPEED: YOUR VOICE & DATA TRAVEL ACROSS THE WORLD
Simple Explanation of How Telecommunication Works from Layman’s Understanding
By: Sharen Alzalip (Managing Partner)
July 13, 2021
Let me share some info on this based on my experience of 13 years in telecommunication industry, which i recently left in July last year. Soon, I will try to supplement it with legal and regulatory flavors of the industry in Malaysia.
But before that, lets try to understand how the industry works from non-technical guys’ perspectives.
Look at the photo below. This is how international transmission is done and how we could browse all sorts of webpage around the world. The data travels across the cables and ocean from one gateway to another gateway and point of interconnection (POI).
The same goes to local transmission i.e. transmission within the same country or area. It'll be connected through string of cables which are buried in duct ways (long-stretched tunnel to lay cables) or through overhead cables laid on poles; just like street electric poles.
"Gateway" means a checkpoint where the traffic data is passed from one point to another point and "POI" means the point where each network of telecommunication provider connected and interfaced.
It's just like thousands of strings and threads tied to one another and each string carry your voice or data. Just like childhood phone toy where each paper cup is tied and connected to another paper cup by thread.
For example, if someone in Malaysia wishes to browse through webpage based in the US just imagine how many checkpoints the cable will carry the data from Malaysian point to the United States and back.
Just imagine how fast the data transmission is, from Malaysia to the exchange and routed through sea cable or submarine cable until it reaches the gateway, exchange and POIs in the United States and back to Malaysia through the same route. It takes a few milliseconds to download or upload the data.
But look at the distance the data travels. It's thousands of miles travelling distance and it's intangible.
As a metaphor, the transmission routing is just like highway or road to carry load of data. It will go through the shortest route to carry load of data traffic. For instance, if one in Malaysia wishes to browse through webpage in the United States, such traffic data will be carried to and fro through the sea cable that cut across Hong Kong, Japan and crossing Pacific Ocean to the Unites States and back through the same route.
That's the fastest route.
I still recall there was once sea bed earthquake devastated the sea cable en route Hong Kong-Japan-United States in mid-2000 (if I’m not mistaken). Telcos in Malaysia had to find alternative routes to transmit the data to the other way around, meaning the other side of the world, through India-Europe-United States cable route.
Some would take sea cable en route Malaysia-New Zealand and cut across Pacific Ocean to the United States. I used to do traffic transmission contract on it.
Just imagine how the data travels and how fast it goes? It unimaginable. It's through optical light and it's intangibe or cannot be seen.
In telecommunication, "traffic" jargon means load of capacity that is brought through transmission enabler in a form of voice or data. The transmission enabler can be either through microwave, fiber optic cables or satellite. That's the transmission medium.
When you talk to your friend over mobile phone, your voice will travel and carried via micro frequency to the nearest telecommunication tower and your voice will travel to another tower and the next until it reaches the telecommunication site called "collector site". This collector site acts like a "mother" of all sites within that cell site.
To illustrate, each cell site consists of several telecommunication towers that are located in beehive like formation. Just imagine the beehive shape, that's how it looks like. The centre of the cell site is the collector site.
This cell sites will then communicate with another cell sites to carry your voice to the network exchange and to next checkpoints of towers until your voice reaches your friend; who'd be probably hundreds of miles away.
It's all through wavelength and radio frequency and this occurs within a few milliseconds.
"Network exchange" is a centre where all your voice and data traffic will be consolidated and then routed to its destination i.e. the recipient. To illustrate, it's just like a Post Office where it routes the letter or parcel to the recipient's address.
As you move along from one place to another, so does the frequency. The radio frequency transmitted from your phone will be captured by the closest telecommunication tower to you. Sometimes, your voice will be carried via hybrid medium, through microwave and fibre optic cable, depending on the network strength capacity. In places where laying fiber optic cable is costly especially in remote areas, transmission will solely depend on microwave and in some places via satellite.
Out of these 3 transmission enablers; microwave, cable and satellite, cable provides the most stable transmission in terms of transmission speed, strength and capacity than the other two.
That's the simplest illustration via laymen’s view to make you understand of how telecommunication industry works.
I used to be in telecommunication industry and more or less i understand how these things work, maybe not in depth but conceptually, i understand it on layman's way of understanding. Telco engineers can explain the whole telecommunication matrix better and in depth.
Disclaimer: The contents are for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such.
Credits: The featuring photos in this article are taken from internet sources for illustration purpose.
But before that, lets try to understand how the industry works from non-technical guys’ perspectives.
Look at the photo below. This is how international transmission is done and how we could browse all sorts of webpage around the world. The data travels across the cables and ocean from one gateway to another gateway and point of interconnection (POI).
The same goes to local transmission i.e. transmission within the same country or area. It'll be connected through string of cables which are buried in duct ways (long-stretched tunnel to lay cables) or through overhead cables laid on poles; just like street electric poles.
"Gateway" means a checkpoint where the traffic data is passed from one point to another point and "POI" means the point where each network of telecommunication provider connected and interfaced.
It's just like thousands of strings and threads tied to one another and each string carry your voice or data. Just like childhood phone toy where each paper cup is tied and connected to another paper cup by thread.
For example, if someone in Malaysia wishes to browse through webpage based in the US just imagine how many checkpoints the cable will carry the data from Malaysian point to the United States and back.
Just imagine how fast the data transmission is, from Malaysia to the exchange and routed through sea cable or submarine cable until it reaches the gateway, exchange and POIs in the United States and back to Malaysia through the same route. It takes a few milliseconds to download or upload the data.
But look at the distance the data travels. It's thousands of miles travelling distance and it's intangible.
As a metaphor, the transmission routing is just like highway or road to carry load of data. It will go through the shortest route to carry load of data traffic. For instance, if one in Malaysia wishes to browse through webpage in the United States, such traffic data will be carried to and fro through the sea cable that cut across Hong Kong, Japan and crossing Pacific Ocean to the Unites States and back through the same route.
That's the fastest route.
I still recall there was once sea bed earthquake devastated the sea cable en route Hong Kong-Japan-United States in mid-2000 (if I’m not mistaken). Telcos in Malaysia had to find alternative routes to transmit the data to the other way around, meaning the other side of the world, through India-Europe-United States cable route.
Some would take sea cable en route Malaysia-New Zealand and cut across Pacific Ocean to the United States. I used to do traffic transmission contract on it.
Just imagine how the data travels and how fast it goes? It unimaginable. It's through optical light and it's intangibe or cannot be seen.
In telecommunication, "traffic" jargon means load of capacity that is brought through transmission enabler in a form of voice or data. The transmission enabler can be either through microwave, fiber optic cables or satellite. That's the transmission medium.
When you talk to your friend over mobile phone, your voice will travel and carried via micro frequency to the nearest telecommunication tower and your voice will travel to another tower and the next until it reaches the telecommunication site called "collector site". This collector site acts like a "mother" of all sites within that cell site.
To illustrate, each cell site consists of several telecommunication towers that are located in beehive like formation. Just imagine the beehive shape, that's how it looks like. The centre of the cell site is the collector site.
This cell sites will then communicate with another cell sites to carry your voice to the network exchange and to next checkpoints of towers until your voice reaches your friend; who'd be probably hundreds of miles away.
It's all through wavelength and radio frequency and this occurs within a few milliseconds.
"Network exchange" is a centre where all your voice and data traffic will be consolidated and then routed to its destination i.e. the recipient. To illustrate, it's just like a Post Office where it routes the letter or parcel to the recipient's address.
As you move along from one place to another, so does the frequency. The radio frequency transmitted from your phone will be captured by the closest telecommunication tower to you. Sometimes, your voice will be carried via hybrid medium, through microwave and fibre optic cable, depending on the network strength capacity. In places where laying fiber optic cable is costly especially in remote areas, transmission will solely depend on microwave and in some places via satellite.
Out of these 3 transmission enablers; microwave, cable and satellite, cable provides the most stable transmission in terms of transmission speed, strength and capacity than the other two.
That's the simplest illustration via laymen’s view to make you understand of how telecommunication industry works.
I used to be in telecommunication industry and more or less i understand how these things work, maybe not in depth but conceptually, i understand it on layman's way of understanding. Telco engineers can explain the whole telecommunication matrix better and in depth.
Disclaimer: The contents are for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such.
Credits: The featuring photos in this article are taken from internet sources for illustration purpose.
