Network Standards and Standard Organizations

  NETWORK STANDARDS! 

Standards are set of rules which are agreed upon by a group of companies or a Standards Organization like ISO or ANSI. They are developed through the cooperation of Standards Creation Committees, Forums and Government Regulatory Agencies. Standards are essential for the following reasons:

1. To create and maintain an open and competitive market for equipment manufacturers.
2. To guarantee national and international interoperatability of data and telecommunications technology and processes.
3. To provide guidelines to manufacturers, vendors, government agencies and other service providers to ensure the kind of interconnectivity necessary in today’s marketplace.

Data communication standards fall into two categories:

1. De Facto (meaning “by fact” or “by convention”)
2. De Jure (meaning “by law” or “by regulation”)

De facto Standard:

Standards that have not been approved by an organization body but have been adopted as standards through widespread use are de facto standards. They are established originally by manufacturers who seek to define the functionality of a new product or technology.

De jure Standard:

Those standards that have been legislated by an officially recognized body are de jure standards.

Protocols and Standards

A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communication between two entities. An entity is anything capable of sending or receiving information. The key elements of a protocol are: Syntax, Semantics and Timing.

Syntax:

The syntax refers to the structure or format of the data, meaning the order in which they are presented. For instance, a simple protocol might expect the data to be transferred along with the addresses of the sender and the receiver in its first 16 bits.

Semantics:

Semantics refers to the meaning of each section of bits. It helps the communication devices to interpret the information sent along with data and to take the corresponding action. For instance, the first 8 bits of the data format may identify a sender or the receiver or the route to be taken along the path.

Timing:

This term refers to two characteristics: when data should be sent and how fast they can be sent. It determines the speed at which data can be transferred in a network. It defines the control information received for monitoring the congestion of data in a network.

Suppose a sender sends at the speed of 100 Mbps, but the receiver is capable of receiving the data at 1 Mbps, then this difference in speed in sending and receiving the data in the network is taken care by the protocol.

STANDARD ORGANIZATIONS!

Standards organizations are formed by a group of members from various organizations for the establishment of standards in various fields. Such organizations fall under three major categories:

1. Standards creation committees
2. Forums and
3. Regulatory Agencies

Standards Creation Committees:

The following are some of the organizations dedicated mainly to establish standards:

1. International Standards Organization (ISO)
2. International Telecommunication Union – Telecommunication Standards Sector (ITU-T)
3. American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
4. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE)
5. Electronic Industries Association (EIA)

International Organization for Standardization (ISO):

The ISO is a multinational body whose membership is drawn mainly from the standards creation committees of various governments throughout the world. ISO is dedicated to worldwide agreement on international standards in the fields of Science, Technology and Economics.

International Telecommunication Union – Telecommunication Standards Sector (ITU-T):

ITU is a committee organized by U.N. for defining the standards in the field of telecommunication. This committee was devoted to the research and development of standards for telecommunications in general and for phone and data systems in particular.

American National Standards Institute (ANSI):

This is a completely private, non profit corporation formed by Americans for the welfare of the citizens in the United States.

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE):

This is the largest professional engineering society in the world. Any one from the field of Engineering could join as a member of this society. It aims at providing standards in the fields of radio as well as in all the related fields of Engineering. As one of its goal, the IEEE oversees the development and adoption of international standards for Computing and Communications.

Electronic Industries Association (EIA):

Aligned with ANSI, the EIA is a non profit organization devoted to the promotion of Electronics manufacturing concerns. It also involves in other activities like public awareness education and standards development. In the field of information technology, it has made a significant contribution by defining physical connection interfaces and electronic signaling specifications for data communication.

Forums and Regulatory Agencies:

Forums are committees formed by special-interest groups to set standards in fast moving technologies like Telecommunication. The members in such committee are representatives from interested corporations. The forums work with Universities and users to test, evaluate and standardize new technologies. Finally, they present their conclusions to the standard bodies. The main motive behind is to speed up the process of standardization involved in setting the standards by the standard bodies.

Regulatory Agency is a committee formed by the Government of U.S. to regulate the activities involved in Communication technology. The purpose of this agency is to protect the public interest by regulating radio, television and wire/cable communications.